A heart-breaking personal experience led Irish band Nerves vocalist and guitarist Kyle Thornton to write the track ‘Leigue’. In late 2019, a close friend, former band member and fellow musician from the band’s hometown Ballina passed away, leaving the band in a state of shock and disarray.
The fall-out of this tragedy had a devastating impact as the feelings of loss and confusion led Kyle to begin to distract himself for several months with drinking, overworking and isolating himself from friends and family. He did not write any lyrics for five months as he knew he would have to acknowledge these events within his songwriting. It was the only way he felt able to deal with his grief, but of course, these are destructive coping mechanisms. ‘Leigue’ is the result and deals with the dangers of trying to ignore grief and allowing unhealthy coping mechanisms to begin to rule one’s life.
Speaking about the single, Kyle says, “We feel as though ‘Leigue’ was a bit of a turning point for us as a band, towards something more mature and cathartic. It’s paved the way for how our sound and attitude has changed over the course of the last year. It’s still intense and still fun to play, but it means more to us now than I think it ever has.”
At almost seven mins this is a powerful, sprawling track that reflects the grief and loss they dealt with. The cathartic nature of songwriting is evident here with the shifts in tone and pace throughout the track. A third of the way through, a sonic breakdown with chaotic noise invokes a sense of losing control. The crunching guitars are amplified at the hands of producer Daniel Fox (Girl Band). The industrial atmosphere contributes to the overriding feeling that grief has to be processed rather than ignored. The 3-piece has produced an intense track that is a fitting acknowledgement of the toughest of subject matters.
For more information on Nerves, please check out their Facebook and Bandcamp pages.