The arrival of previously unreleased material from Tim Bergling – aka Avicii – should be a cause for quiet celebration among fans, who are finally able to find out what the DJ and producer had planned next, and hear music that – at the time of its creation – was always intended to see the light of day.
However, it seems that controversy is set to swirl around the release of Forever Yours, a track that Avicii had been working on, alongside vocalist Sandro Cavazza prior to his passing in 2018, and which, alongside similar collabs, has been sat in legal limbo.
The pair had previously worked together on the hit single Without You. The ‘new’ track – entitled Forever Yours (Tim’s 2016 Ibiza Version) – is out to stream now but it appears that – at least on evidence from Cavazza himself – the release has not been endorsed by or agreed to by Cavazza.
Taking to Instagram, Cavazza said: “I don’t want to release any of those songs without Tim being here.”
The full post reads as follows: “Just so you all know. I have not agreed [to release] this as a single. I have only agreed on releasing Tim’s demo version of Forever Yours as a part of a full live album release from Tim’s last show, but since that album wasn’t released today and this is now being portrayed as a single, featuring me, I feel like I need to speak up.
“I have for years now been asked by the family and Pinguettes Recordings to release the unreleased material I have done together with Tim and I have consistently said no. A lot of you probably wonder why those songs never have come out and the truth is that I don’t want to release any of those songs without Tim being here.
“He is the only one who knew when his songs were finished and I do, and will continue to respect that.
"I therefore wish that Pinguettes Recordings, [CEO of Pophouse Entertainment] Per Sundin and Tim’s family will respect that decision as well and that they think twice about what the most respectful way to treat Tim’s memory is cuz I don’t think this is it.”
Indeed, instead of finishing and releasing the track without Avicii present, Cavazza had instead produced an alternative version alongside producer Kygo in 2020.
Now it appears that, as closure, Cavazza had agreed for the Avicii original to appear as part of an album marking Bergling’s last show – audio of which had previously been released on Netflix as part of Avicii: My Last Show, a 30-minute film that captured his final performance live at Ibiza’s Ushuaïa on 26 August 2016, and which followed the first airing of their documentary on the superstar DJ last year.
The fact that the track is now being pulled out and released as a single instead would appear to overstep the remit of what had previously been agreed.
At the time of writing Pinguettes Recordings are yet to comment.
Dancing In My Head
Bergling encountered a rapid rise to fame on the back of hits such as Levels and Dancing In My Head, leading to co-production and co-writing credits with Coldplay, among others. He became a much-in-demand regular on the international club and festival scene.
After struggling with both his physical and mental health he was forced to take a backseat from the limelight and retire at the age of 26. Tragedy was to follow when Bergling took his own life on 20 April 2018, aged just 28.
