Drawing us in with an intricately performed acoustic guitar, Terminal Fear open Vacant with instrumental mastery and a brooding tone with the situational, thought-provoking lyrics, “Standing there in those dirty clothes… what you gonna do when no-one’s there…?”
Immediately we are captivated by the vivid imagery of the prose, and the astral ad-libs, before a total timbre switch-up from an Americana-folk adjacency to a British spoken word, rapped energy accompanied by baritone choral chants as Terminal Fear share metaphorical depth with a high concept message.
The band from Winchester, England tells us, “The story of this song is about someone helping the protagonist after they have reached their lowest point due to disregard for themselves. It is about loss and fear of how they could have spiralled without help but eventually comes to a resolve and needs to come to the realisation that they can do things on their own.”
There is no doubt that this acoustic version of Vacant holds a high emotional and spiritual quotient. Although acoustic in nature, there is a lot of dimensionality at play here. The luscious harmonies, the ad-libs, the rapping, the sung hooks and the textured musicality all manifest in dynamism.
The delivery has an almost shamanic vibe to it, which feels super unique. The band says, “This release as always was inspired by the hip hop genre as well as a lot of rock artists who incorporate hip hop into their music to provide the emotional entanglement along side a story where we can help the listener picture the characters along the way.”
We learn that the recording took place at Sofastyle Studios, which the band say is “the true heart of the Terminal Fear outfit.” The band is comprised of Stuart ‘Stu’ Wright, Kieran ‘Rumm’ Dunne, Aaron ‘Skip’ Bartlett and Ryan ‘Twiggy’ Twigs.
Although they are working out plans for live shows at the moment, the aesthetic and sound of the band is super festival-friendly, and we can imagine them going down a storm at Secret Garden Party. It would also be great as a sync placement on a TV show like Skins or Shameless.
Needless to say, we are in awe, and have added Vacant – Acoustic to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we continue to stream the wider discography of Terminal Fear, including Fractures, Flowchart, and Bone Container.