Anguish, despair, anticipation- all anxiety-inducing symptoms of a notabley deep-seated loneliness. It digs and drudges through your whole body, winding itself tighter and tighter ’round your soul as it slowly and deliberately squeezes every ounce of life out of you. Day by day, it robs you of your sanity and your voice. Your sight is compromised; your throat has run dry and stitched itself shut. Your chest cavity feels like it’s caving in and your legs have become weighted with lead. You’re tired. You begin to systematically shut down and shut out any and every source of light of your existence. It is painful misery; emptiness; this is the very last dregs of an anguished human soul.
And it was perfectly encapsulated in The Danger Of Falling’s latest EP Hope/Well.
It’s not often that I find an album that touches me so deeply. It’s not often that I can find anything that can even begin to relate to my experiencesin such a way that I become all at once lost, at peace, and incredibly vulnerable. I won’t speak any further of this, for words really can’t even begin to give due justice to the audible personification of soul-eating loneliness that the West Virginian 5-piece has so masterfully crafted.
All you need to do is listen.
Today, we’re taking you behind-the-scenes and into the depths of Hope/Well in this exclusive track-by-track, penned by vocalist Luke Smith. As always, each song is embedded for your better listening and viewing pleasure. Sit back, plug in, and read on- I sincerely hope you enjoy this as much as I have!
“Threading/Chapter”
“Threading/Chapter” is a simple song introduction. We were searching for a sound that could convey the perfect feeling in foreshadowing track two, which is “Still/Vacant.” With a little help from our dear friend Luke Bowman at Slick Sound, we were able to achieve that erie balance of anticipation and emotion.
“Still/Vacant”
The story of lost love is one that most can tell. It is something that can linger heavily on a person’s mind. Whether you know it or not, most of us are afraid of falling in love. Love can feel unequal and often break connections away from friends and family. It can make you feel vulnerable and stir up past hurts. It may also challenge an old identity that underlines feelings of being undeserving or unlovable. With that being said, it is also one of the most incredible feelings anyone can ever feel. It is unique in a way that it can make you happy, hopeful, grateful, inspired, and can often change your life in the most amazing ways. In this song, I challenge the defenses that we harbor in relationships. Often we believe distance will protect us from getting hurt. This is the story of overcoming the false illusion of safety and finding new love that sets everything free.
“Distant/Despair”
A few years ago my mother went through a regular medical operating surgery. It was to be nothing serious at all. The operation went perfectly planned as expected, without any hiccups whatsoever. After the surgery, nurses brought her back to her hospital room. The medical staff was enthused on how well everything went. I sat by her bedside quietly as she rested. A few hours had passed by when all at once my mothers medical machines had began to go haywire. Every piece of medical equipment that could make a sound was screaming. Everything seemed to be happening so fast that I honestly wasn’t sure what was going on. Doctors and nurses quickly rushed into the hospital room while shouting back at one another. It wasn’t long before I noticed my mom wasn’t breathing. Nurses quickly pushed me out of the room. Hours slowly passed by in the waiting area where I sat impatiently. So many different thoughts and emotions were hitting me all at once. Finally, doctors made me aware that my mother was doing just fine and her breathing had gone back to normal. To this day my mother is doing well and in excellent health. In this song I describe many of the feelings I had experienced during that moment.
“Her/Being”
This song dwells with a personal situation that I’d rather leave the listener with for open interpretation.
“Myself/Alone”
Loneliness is often a feeling that many experience. It is complex and can often lead to heavy consequences. As individuals we face loneliness in unique ways. Personally, I have found myself dealing with loneliness in the past, even when surrounded by people. To stop feeling lonely, we first must accept that we are feeling lonely. Sometimes admitting that to ourselves is difficult. We then have to express those feelings of loneliness in some way. We might find ourselves writing in a journal, writing an imaginary letter to a friend, drawing, making up a song, or doing anything else that lets us begin to express the feelings we have inside us. I felt it necessary to write a song about loneliness and the effects it carries as a way to reach out towards listeners who may be coping with it on their own. We must become aware of our bad habits if we want to break them.
Purchase Hope/Well here: iTunes | Google Play | Amazon | Bandcamp
About The Danger Of Falling
West Virginia’s The Danger Of Falling looks to bring their take on Christian melodic hardcore to the masses. Forming in Morgantown, the band hopes to bring as much effort as possible to live for God through the music they know and love. After releasing a demo in early 2014, the band took to consistently playing shows and honing in on the sound they wanted. They returned in the spring of 2015 with a two song single before eventually catching the eye of Imminence Records. They announced their signing with the label in January of 2016 and have released their debut EP Hope/Well.
Ouch That Hertz! 