Song You Need: Villager transforms a cheesy pop sample into a club anthem

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You can never have too many 2-step tunes about love (or a lack thereof), and Villager delivers another of these with his latest single, “Never Gonna Be.” The song is the follow-up to “Every Single Time,” released back in March, and it’s just a teaser of what we can expect in the coming months. The L.A.-via-Maryland producer proves to be unpredictable with his sound, releasing a mix of house, techno, and breaks over the last couple of years, but his delectable garage beats continue to be club crowd-pleasers.

Starting with a classic garage drum pattern, Villager furnishes the new track’s melody with sweeping synths that can fill easily up a room. “Well we don’t really know we’re going / Are you gonna treat me right?,” the echoing vocals plead, before crooning about their insecurity in a relationship: “I can’t let you do this don’t know if I’m ever gonna be the same / Oh well, there’s gotta be more to this / Just tell me that I’ll hold you in my arms again.” He continues to create boundless atmospheres throughout the bridge, building bubbling synths that weave through the percussion effortlessly until the final drum break arrives, bringing the song to its close.

“I started digging through a bunch of their samples — it was mostly comprised of SUPER cheesy pop vocals,” Villager tells The FADER, explaining how he found the snippet he landed on while looking for Overmono‘s “So U Know” sample. “But I think the overtly cheese pop sound has its place when it’s juxtaposed with more tasteful club music.”

Listen to “Never Gonna Be” below.