Hilltop Hoods have dropped a new single, “Never Coming Home”, teaming up with Kiwi heavyweights and recent Aotearoa Charts Icon Award winners Six60.
The song lands alongside an action-packed music video featuring some of the biggest names in Australian combat sports, including UFC Featherweight World Champion Alexander Volkanovski, and arrives ahead of the group’s ninth studio album, Fall From The Light, due August 1st via Island Records/UMA.
“’Never Coming Home’ is about striving for greatness,” explains Suffa. “And that’s why it made sense to have World Champion, Alex Volkanovski, in the clip. Talking to him about what he’s achieved, you quickly realise that the ingredients of greatness are talent and discipline. And Volk is talent and discipline in their purest forms.”
Pressure added the song is about the journey of self-growth and achievement. “It’s about setting out on that sojourn and not coming back until you’ve achieved your goals,” he says. “This song was the first one we wrote over a two-day writing session with Six60 & One Above and became our favourite writing collaborations we’ve done in years. Massive shout out to Alexander The Great Volkanovski and Colby Thicknesse for being in the clip and bringing it to life.”
For Six60 frontman Matiu Walters, collaboration came quite naturally. “Writing ‘Never Coming Home’ with the Hoods just felt very natural, when we connected there was a mutual respect between us,” he says. “We wrote a bunch of songs with this one coming together quickly. That was a couple of years ago, so it’s really cool to see ‘Never Coming Home’ now out in the world — everything has its time and the time is now.”
The video, directed by Jeremy Koren (Forest Claudette, Ruel) with concept from ARIA Award-winning director Bill Bleakley (Didirri, Teskey Brothers, Confidence Man), was shot in Melbourne and features a who’s who of the combat sports world. Colby Thicknesse — a rising UFC Bantamweight fighter — plays the lead role, with Volkanovski appearing alongside him. The clip also includes Aaron Maher (Oceania freestyle wrestling national champion), who plays Colby’s opponent, double ADCC Jiu Jitsu champion Adele Fornarino as the referee, with cameos from Craig Jones (ranked No. 2 grappler in the world) and BJJ Black Belt Adam Jones.
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“I’ve been a big fan of both Hilltop Hoods and Six60, it was so cool to be a part of the video,” shares Volkanovski. “Growing up I’ve always listened to Hilltop Hoods and always been a big fan of them. As soon as I got wind that they were doing this, I knew I had to make it happen and be a part of the clip along with Colby. I love doing these acting gigs and really enjoy it. It was funny, as soon as we knew this was happening, I literally got to the gym and Hilltop Hoods were playing. You’re ‘Never Coming Home’ till you’re champ.”
Thicknesse also shared how meaningful the collaboration was to him personally. “I discovered Hilltop Hoods when I was about 11 years old and I remember my dad playing them in the car. The first track I heard was ‘The Nosebleed Section’ and I would listen to it to gee myself up before wrestling tournaments as a kid,” he says. “I listen to a lot of their music at the gym throughout my fighter journey, so now, not only do I get to star in the music video but having it about fighting is just a very surreal moment for me. It’s been a real cool experience — a full circle moment.”
“Never Coming Home” is the fourth single from Fall From The Light, which will be released on August 1st. Produced by One Above with additional production by Sesta and Suffa, the 12-track record also features lead single “The Gift” featuring Marlon, recent fan favourite “Don’t Happy, Be Worry”, and the Gold-accredited “Laced Up”.
The song also arrives just days after Hilltop Hoods announced their long-awaited ‘Never Coming Home’ Australian arena tour.
Pre-orders and pre-saves for Fall From The Light are available now.
