The Rhode Island duo Chalumeau of Katherine Bergeron and Butch Rovan just dropped their new single “Never Give Up,” and it’s not the kind of track you put on to hype yourself up. It’s the kind you sit with, maybe late at night, maybe when something in your life has cracked and you’re still figuring out if it’s going to break. The song — released via Decal Dame Records — is part indie rock, part ambient slow burn, and all emotional excavation.
There’s a quiet boldness in “Never Give Up.” It doesn’t hit with a big chorus or lean into any feel-good payoff. Instead, the track spirals — with a hypnotic bassline, minor key harmonies, and Rovan’s guitar work that hovers like fog. Bergeron’s vocals don’t rise to dramatic heights; they stay grounded, like someone trying not to cry while saying something they’ve rehearsed a hundred times.
The backstory makes it even heavier: Bergeron and Rovan wrote the song after returning to Napatree Point on the anniversary of a shared trauma. They lit candles in the wind, marking a moment they couldn’t quite move past. They wrote a version of the song — and then scrapped it. It was too neat, too polished. What we hear now is their second try: more raw, more unresolved, more real.
The lyric video, shot on that same beach, keeps the tone consistent. It’s all wind, sand, and dusk — no flashy editing, no high-concept narrative. Just one person carrying a flame against the elements. Literal and metaphorical.
Chalumeau isn’t here to give you a hook to hum. They’re here to remind you that some wounds don’t close cleanly — and that’s okay. “Never Give Up” is for those moments when you’re not looking for resolution, just recognition.
You can listen to “Never Give Up” now. Maybe wait until the sun goes down.