Country music artist Drake Jensen has just released a reinterpretation of Corey Hart’s classic hit Never Surrender in a compelling duet with Ottawa artist Lisa Thompson of the band Sovereign Council.
An equally exciting video accompanies the track; both are dedicated to the front-line workers that helped the world through this challenging year. But Drake Jensen is not only a country music star but also a leader in the LGBTQ community.
He’s released three studio albums: OUTlaw in 2013, Retro in 2014 and Sideshow in 2018. Some notable single releases from these albums include Scars That You Can’t See, the anti-bullying track which was launched at Nashville’s Hard Rock Café during Nashville Pride and Where Ever Love Takes Us, which broke into the Australian Country Top40 and was turned into the line dance Waves of Love by renowned Irish choreographer Gary O’Reilly and Burn the Floor released in May of 2020, which became a massive hit at Australian radio and was voted ‘Video of the Year’ by fans of the site Country Queer. Never Surrender is transformed into a big country-pop crossover smash, with the song’s melodic power kept intact.
With added layers of exquisite detail such as Jensen and Thompson’s expressive vocal performances, dazzling lap steel guitar work, and a sustained emotional allure, the new version reveals the lyric’s extraordinary new resonance. The production harnesses contemporary aesthetics and gets the blend of country-pop exactly right, utilising dynamics, instrumentation, and nuanced performances to impressive effect. From the opening mood-establishing intro to the concluding motifs which include very relatable lines considering the effect the pandemic has had on all of us: The time is all you’re asking for / Ooh, stand your ground, never surrender.
With almost 100k Spotify streams Drake Jensen is a new breed of music artist, the kind who defies categorization: he’s a country singer, musician, and songwriter whose work transcends genres and demographics. His latest release is a must for lovers of country and pop.