Some heartbreaks don’t come with a breakup. sombr’s “we never dated” is for the ones who never got the label, but still got the ache.
follow our Today’s Song(s) playlist
Stream: “we never dated” – sombr
There’s a line in the chorus to sombr’s latest single that feels like a late-night text you’ll never send: “How come we never even dated, but I still find myself thinking of you daily?”
It’s not dramatic; it’s just honest – and it hits harder because it’s not trying to be anything but that.
Sombr is not chasing closure; he’s sitting in the confusion. “we never dated,” released June 20th via Warner Records, is a lo-fi indie spiral that sounds like it was recorded in the middle of a thought you couldn’t shake. The guitar loops feel like pacing. The vocals barely rise above a whisper. And the refrain “I can’t make you love me” doesn’t beg it just exists, like a truth you’ve finally stopped fighting.
You were clever, knew when to deliver your lines
And make it seem like you weren’t that bright
You were better in every way by design
You were too good for a man’s confine
How come we never even dated
But I still find myself thinking of you daily?
Why do you always leave me achin’
When you were never mine for the takin’?
I can’t make you lovе me
No, I can’t make you love mе
Babe, I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
Babe, I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
This track marks a pivotal moment in sombr’s catalog. Following the success of recent singles “Back to Friends” and “Undressed,” which explored the blurry lines between platonic and romantic connection, “We Never Dated” strips away the bravado and dives straight into the ache. It’s not a breakup anthem it’s a lament for what never officially was. And that emotional ambiguity has become sombr’s signature.
The 19-year-old singer, songwriter, and producer, known offstage as Shane Boose, has built a reputation for turning emotional limbo into lyrical clarity. His earlier singles leaned into clever wordplay and layered production, but here, he opts for restraint. Produced primarily by Sombr himself with additional touches from Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Andrew Bird), the track leans into raw guitar textures and minimal percussion. It’s a sonic choice that lets the lyrics breathe – and bruise.
There’s no villain here. Just someone who was “nice to romanticize / but you don’t make yourself easy to like.” It’s the kind of line you write after realizing you fell for the idea of someone more than the reality. And that realization? It doesn’t come with fireworks. It comes with silence.
You are a pretty one, nice to romanticize
But you don’t make yourself easy to like
You like to have your fun, you dance around the line
Of what is wrong and what is right
What makes the song linger is how little it tries to impress. There’s no big drop, no dramatic bridge. Just repetition. Just resignation. Just the quiet kind of heartbreak that sneaks up on you when you’re scrolling through old messages and wondering if any of it meant what you thought it did.
How come we never even dated
But I still find myself thinking of you daily?
Why do you always leave me achin’
When you were never mine for the takin’?
I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
Babe, I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
Babe, I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
“we never dated” doesn’t ask for pity. It doesn’t even ask for attention.
It just exists for the people who’ve mourned a maybe. For the ones who were almost something. For the ones who still think about someone who never officially belonged to them.
And that kind of grief? It’s real. It’s messy. And sombr captures it with a kind of quiet brilliance that doesn’t need to shout to be heard.
I wish nothing but the best for you
But I hope who’s next sees the rest of you
How come we never even dated
But I still find myself thinking of you daily?
(Still find myself thinking of you)
Why do you always leave me achin’
When you were never mine for the takin’?
(When you were never mine for the takin’?)
How come we never even dated
But I still find myself thinking of you daily?
(Still find myself thinking of you)
Why do you always leave me achin’
When you were never mine for the takin’?
I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
Babe, I can’t make you love me
No, I can’t make you love me
— —
:: stream/purchase we never dated here ::
:: connect with sombr here ::
— —
Stream: “we never dated” – sombr
— — — —
Connect to sombr on
Facebook, 𝕏, TikTok, Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© 2025
© 2025
:: Today’s Song(s) ::
follow our daily playlist on Spotify
:: Stream sombr ::
