What’s Really Going On in Sombr’s 12 to 12? The Lyrics Say More Than You Think 

The lights never dim on Sombr’s 12 to 12. Released on 24 July 2025, the single slips into indie-disco attire and fixates on romantic possession, not in the grand, sweeping sense, but hour by hour, from midnight to midnight. It’s not a love song. It’s a fixation soundtrack.

From the first line, Sombr doesn’t ask to be loved back. He simply declares he won’t want anyone else.

Not during the daylight, not after. The obsession is time-stamped. In a track co-produced with Tony Berg and written by Sombr himself (real name Shane Boose), the language is plainspoken and pointed: “In a room full of people, I look for you.” 

If the beat invites you in, the words quietly close the door behind you.

This isn’t a breakup song. It’s the fallout after pretending the story was already over.

12 to 12 takes place in what feels like a fever dream disguised as a disco.

The video directed by Gus Black makes that literal. Sombr plays both late-night TV host and guest, caught in a studio frozen in gold light.

The set never changes, the questions never get asked. He’s stuck in his own loop, trying to explain something without actually saying it.

One fan described it as “watching someone interview themselves, but not admitting what they really want to say.”

Addison Rae floats through the scene as more than a dancer.

Rae doesn’t play a straightforward love interest. She mouths his words, dances alongside him, and they make eye contact.

But it never quite lands as a romantic exchange. There’s a formality to how she moves. She stays close, she follows the choreography, but the intimacy feels distant.

At times, it seems like she’s mirroring him rather than connecting with him, reflecting a version of closeness that might only exist from his side.

Her presence adds glamour, but also blurs the emotional centre. She’s there. But whether she’s real to him, or just an imagined version, is left open.

When he sings “from 12 to 12,” the clock in the background doesn’t move. The party doesn’t change.

The lyric becomes less about a day and more about how long someone can pretend that longing is enough.

The production leans into this quiet panic: marimba flickers, a tight beat masked in sparkle, and a melody that refuses to resolve. It’s dancefloor melancholy disguised in sheen.

Fans on Reddit picked up the shift in tone compared to earlier tracks like Undressed and Back to Friends. 

While those leaned into vulnerability, 12 to 12 sounds less confessional and more observational.

One listener called it “The 1975 if they stopped apologising.” Others praised its restraint, noting it “feels like it’s just holding something back the whole time, and that’s what makes it hurt more.”

There’s a flicker of backstory midway through: “We met in a Paris café / I said, ‘Can I sit with you?’” He doesn’t tell you what happened next.

The moment hangs unanswered, like the rest of the song, suggesting the connection might’ve only existed in his head.

For an artist only 20, Sombr’s command of tone is striking. That shouldn’t be surprising, his last single Back to Friends was named one of Rolling Stone’s Best Songs of 2024 and topped Spotify’s Global Weekly Chart while leading U.S. Alternative Radio for five weeks. 

Undressed followed with over 500 million streams and a performance slot on Jimmy Kimmel Live! 

But 12 to 12 feels like something else entirely. It doesn’t try to make you feel.

It simply shows you what it feels like to keep wanting something that never gave a clear answer.

The final chorus shifts the line: “Would you avoid me or would you see me through?” 

He’s not asking if they still care. He’s asking if they ever actually saw him.

12 to 12 doesn’t dwell on a breakup. It stays in that uneasy space where love might’ve only gone one way.

And the visuals double down on that idea – bright, choreographed, and utterly empty of resolution.

So here’s the question it leaves behind: if you spend every hour looking for someone, and they never look back, is that love or just a beautifully soundtracked ghost story?

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Full Lyrics to 12 to 12 by Sombr

Verse 1
I don’t want anyone else
From the hours of 12 to 12
I am not the least compelled
By anyone but yourself
Look at me, it makes me melt
I know you wanna see me in hell, my love
I’m dealing with the cards I’ve dealt
While you’re dancing with somebody else

Pre-Chorus
Was it always in your plan to leave eventually?
Because to me, there’s no one else that could make sense to me
The last and final puzzle piece

Chorus
In a room full of people, I look for you
Would you avoid me or would you look for me too?
Tell me, is our story through? (Through)
Or do our hearts still beat in tune?

Verse 2
I’ve never felt anything
Like the love from my final days
Why’d you wait
To show me you could do it this way?
Woah, I’ll never look at you, look at you the same
We met in a Paris café
I said, “Can I sit with you? Comment ça se fait?”
My mistake
If I’d known that it would happen this way
I’d never looked at you, looked in the first place

Pre-Chorus
Was it always in your plan to leave eventually?
Because to me, there’s no one else that could make sense to me
The last and final puzzle piece

Chorus
In a room full of people, I look for you
Would you avoid me or would you look for me too?
Tell me, is our story through? (Through)
Or do our hearts still beat in tune?

Bridge
Maybe, I’m delusional
And the way you act is usual
Maybe in another world
I won’t feel so unlovable (Unlovable)
Oh (Unlovable)

Chorus
In a room full of people, I look for you
Would you avoid me or would you look for me too?
Tell me, is our story through? (Through)
Or do our hearts still beat in tune?
In a room full of people, I look for you
Would you avoid me or would you see me through?
Tell me, is our story through? (Through)
Or do our hearts still beat in tune?