Cole Swindell & Lainey Wilson - "Never Say Never"

[recordyear]

Artist: Cole Swindell & Lainey Wilson
Single: “Never Say Never”
Writers: Chase McGill, Cole Swindell, Jessi Alexander
Album: Stereotype
Label: Warner Music Nashville
Impact Date: November 22nd, 2021

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Will be released this Thursday.

[austin]

Cole Swindell is a recognizable name, so it may help Lainey's career to have a duet with a name people know but she is so much more talented than him that I can't help but assume this song will be beneath her.

[.indulgecountry]

Nov 16, 2021 21:38:44 GMT -5 austin said:

Cole Swindell is a recognizable name, so it may help Lainey's career to have a duet with a name people know but she is so much more talented than him that I can't help but assume this song will be beneath her.

This is admittedly my worry as well because Cole Swindell is... not good, but the snippet sounded fine and in all honesty, this is probably a smart move for Lainey Wilson at this stage. We've seen far too many times where country radio let a new female completely flop with the follow-up single to their breakthrough hit, and even though she had some really solid options on Sayin' What I'm Thinkin', I can't help but feel like there was sadly a pretty good chance even then that she could've been looking at a 45-week climb to something like a #32 peak on the charts. But a high profile duet with an already established male artist is pretty much an assured hit, so I imagine that this should set Lainey up much better for future success.

[raylatch98]

I actually think Cole Swindell is more talented then most here and I like his music overall (dude has a solid knack for catchy melodies imo) so I am excited for this on both ends personally

[winstonmurdock]

Writers are Jessi Alexander, Chase McGill, and Cole Swindell. I think it will be really well-received at radio.

[George Strait Junkie]

I wanna like the song but hate the production of the chorus and that kills it for me

[recordyear]

[raylatch98]

It's a good song and will probably be a hit but man the production on the chorus is in a word loud. They do both sound good and have a solid chemistry, definitely will take time to grow on me

[jhomes87]

This is getting hourly spins on the Twin Cities iHeartCountry station, so I would imagine that that’s the case at most (if not all) of the other iHeartCountry stations today.

[Kanenrá:ke]

So this is probably the best vocally he’s ever sounded to my ear, Lainey to me doesn’t really fit here. Her style isn’t this and it’s noticeable to me.

I’m very underwhelmed by the lyrics and the chorus production is so noisy and rather unappealing.

I do think this could hit big for them so at the very least Lainey will have a second hit, just wishing it was a better song.

[sabre14]

Nov 18, 2021 15:50:53 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

This is getting hourly spins on the Twin Cities iHeartCountry station, so I would imagine that that’s the case at most (if not all) of the other iHeartCountry stations today.

It is getting debuted (was? lol) every hour by iHeart stations today, which might seem strange on a Thursday since we don't get too many of them, but the Adele and Stapleton song is getting some hourly love tomorrow on iHeart stations; plus, next week is the holiday, so that's why we get them back to back here.

It's a great sign that iHeartMedia programmers gave this one an hourly debut. It speaks to how much they like the song and how much the industry believes in Lainey as an artist. I'd be shocked if she's not one of the artists for the 2022 CRS New Faces show.

[.indulgecountry]

This is really good, as I expected. The chorus is a bit overblown as others have pointed out, but the verse melody is excellent and I love the call-and-response approach between Cole and Lainey versus the typical format of having one singer do the first verse and the other do the second verse that we've seen so much of lately out of the big duets. Her voice sounds fantastic in particular, and I love that she isn't drowned out in the mix by Cole, who actually sounds pretty solid here compared to his usual checked out vocals. Excited to see this be a hit so that Lainey can continue to build momentum and hopefully become a regular hitmaker on the charts, because she's so talented and offers something unique to the airwaves that you aren't going to get from most of the females out right now.

[SHOOTER]

It's not bad but not something I see myself revisiting regularly. I hope it does its job for her though.

[carriekins]

It's louder than I want it to be but on first listen, I like this pretty well. Lainey sounds great here.

[country11]

I hope we get a chance to see them perform this live at some point. 

[austin]

This was better than I expected, largely because I love the arrangement of the verses where they are talking to each other instead of the traditional duet structure you hear all the time. It reminds me of a “good” Jason Aldean song and sounds like something he would cut.

I do think the production is a huge contrast to what made Lainey’s album such a refreshing listen, this sounds like every other overproduced pop country song that is out there right now, and her debut reminded me of Lee Ann Womack.

[onebuffalo]

Did this debut yesterday? Otherwise:

0 34 COLE SWINDELL & LAINEY WILSON Never Say Never 1336 0 1336 7.047

[gardyfan]

Nov 20, 2021 19:56:03 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Did this debut yesterday? Otherwise:

0 34 COLE SWINDELL & LAINEY WILSON Never Say Never 1336 0 1336 7.047

It had the hourly deal on Thursday at iHeart stations.

[d3vin44]

I don't love this, I actually find it pretty meh/boring. Wish Lainey could have just released a single from her album because "LA" is 10000% better than this. (and get Hannah Dasher that smash hit writing credit)

[ClevelandRox]

This is so much better than Single Saturday Night. But as catchy as it is, something still feels generic, in the vein of Love You Too Late (which I will forever be bitter was a single over All Of It).

[raylatch98]

"Never Say Never" debuts at #30 on Mediabase this week. Very strong debut for this song and I definitely think given the updates since the debut (gaining over a million in audience since Friday) that this should have a very great add date tomorrow as well.

[CoJoFan]

Debuts at #21 on Country Airplay.

[raylatch98]

Also most added with 89 adds this week on Mediabase which in terms of iHeartMedia debuts actually ranks it above songs like "Beers On Me" (56), "Best Things Since Backroads" (84), "23", (83), and "Never Wanted To Be That Girl" (74) which given country radio is already really on board with those songs makes me feel even better for Cole Swindell and Lainey Wilson imo.

[sabre14]

They just filmed the music video for "Never Say Never", so hopefully that's out before the new year.

[recordyear]

This is selling well (top 100 all-genre) for its airplay, so it should be a bigger hit than Single Saturday Night at least.

[Naos]

Debuts at #24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.

[LBTrocks]

This is excellent! I'm also one who likes Cole Swindell, not everything he does but he does have songs I enjoy. However, I was really excited to hear this cuz I adore Lainey Wilson and she was expectedly fantastic on this. The song is SO good. Will definitely be listening to this a lot!

[LBTrocks]

Double post but I have to say that if this smashes, which initial indicators point to that being a good chance, it will likely end up being one of my favorite country hits of 2021. I love the production and the melody is so strong, the chorus slays and I'm not at all bothered by how "noisy" it is I actually love it lol. Lainey Wilson is easily one of my fav country newcomers so I'm thrilled with any and all success that comes her way. I've definitely enjoyed some Cole Swindell songs in the past, but I can say with a lot of confidence that this is my favorite thing he's released thus far and the strongest vocal he's ever given.

[Deleted]

I like it.

[HeyHeyHey]

“Christmas Cookies” is #57 this week on Billboard Country Airplay! Even though it is a Christmas song - it does make me hopeful that between this charting, “Things a Man Oughta Know” hitting #1, and “Never Say Never” moving along at a pretty good pace that country radio is interested in Lainey and she will continue to be a bigger star.