Brett Vogel - Never Giving Up

Brett Vogel

Never Giving Up
self-released; 2015

3.3 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The Los Angeles based Brett Vogel makes music that feels like it’s trying to reach as many people as possible. On his album Never Giving Up he plays radio ready music that gets stuck into your head whether you want it to or not. Most of the songs contain grandiose, nostalgic sentiment while adhering to motivational and reflective lyrics. You sometimes get the sense when listening to Vogel that he is trying too hard for you to like his music by attempting to please everyone who listens to it. That being some said Vogel has a lot of things going for him and it’s those moments on Never Giving Up, which veers away from his overzealous nature to please that end up being his best. 

Vogel plays it safe on the eleven songs by never experimenting out of a basic mainstream pop structure and sequentially ends up creating an album of songs which do little to have him stand out against the oversaturated arena of singer/songwriters. I almost want to compare Vogel to Wilco at times because they both mix rock, pop and country. The reality is once you dig into Never Giving Up the similarities are only surface level.

The album opens with “When You’re Lonely” which is one of the highlights of the album. I thought the string work and singing was solid on this song. The song finds an energy and groove and doesn’t let go of it till the song is over. “Never Giving Up” has all the staples of a single that is trying to find its way onto the airwaves. The song oozes with a desperation to try and get noticed by anybody who is willing to listen. 

Vogel’s next couple of tracks “California Take Me Away” and “Two Times the Killer” are melancholy ballads. The highlight at least for me was “Surcease in Time.” Vogel does some rocking and it feels a little bit raw and unpolished which was a nice deviation from the pristine production of the previous tracks. 

Vogel goes back into palatable mainstream pop with “I Miss the Snow” while “Crazy About a Girl” has a slight Van Morrison vibe which sounded good on Vogel. Never Giving Up contains no surprises and if you enjoy mainstream pop then you can add this to your playlist. Vogel has talent and a good singing voice but might want to do a little digging as to what makes this music stand out from the crowd. 

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