Chris Cagle’s certainly had his share of bad luck over the past few years. Even if most of it was self-inflicted, I wouldn’t wish that kind of luck on anyone. After returning to the airwaves with “What Kinda Gone” early this year, Cagle’s summer single “No Love Songs” fizzled when all of the drama of his personal life became news. Now with that news fading into the past, Cagle and his label Capitol Nashville are back with “Never Ever Gone.”

Lyrically, the song is very similar to Keith Anderson’s “I Still Miss You” and “Every Time I Hear Your Name.” Cagle comes of whiney and the song has a pseudo rock melody that just doesn’t work. The later part is surprising given that Cagle typically does that sort of thing quite well. It’s peculiar to me that Capitol has chosen two songs to follow-up “What Kinda Gone” that really aren’t the kind of thing that radio wants right now. Does this signal the end of Cagle’s career as a major label artist?