It doesn't get much clearer than "Never Listen". Or at least, that's what the name would have you believe. Like a lot of Southey's work, his new single "Never Listen" is multifaceted, delivering on the surface a relatively standard description of post-natural environment, and below winking at a multitude of other issues facing us personally and nationally: the onslaught of CTE diagnoses, town gossip, and yes, the uncanny, growing trend of mainstream music made and used for mood’s sake only.

Recorded with his live band (Christina Dare, Gab Lavoie, and Craig McCann) during what became the second of the Common Fantasies EP sessions in September 2022, produced by Alex Gamble (Fucked Up, Alvvays, Sarah Harmer, Rheostatics), "Never Listen" developed its own identity apart from its brothers and sisters very quickly.

"It really always starts with a simple idea and then unravels." Southey says of songwriting. "That unraveling can lead to even more interesting threads to follow, or it can show you how insubstantial the idea was in the first place — the latter is a lot less fun."

Where Common Fantasies was largely bullish and blaring, "Never Listen" lets an ominous acoustic guitar thrum and evasive synth do most of the talking. Southey's lyrics are there to underline what's clear from the title and the moody progression: You just never listen, no matter what the problem is, no matter what the subject is. So, why bother saying anything at all in the chorus? Here’s a “woo” for your trouble.

"Never Listen" had to be the first single post-2022. It was an easy decision for Southey. If you have people coming up to you asking where they can listen to "that song" and then they start humming the chorus, you're on to something.

With this, Southey is on to something.