All That’s Left Ignites With Passion In New Single, ‘Fire’
OThere’s a certain duality to be found with a band. Characteristic flairs seeping through their different members, all uniting to create a multifaceted image of a united creative body. But, can this possibly be achieved within a one-woman band? All That’s Left has used their new single, ‘Fire’, as burning hot proof that even with one hand behind the wheel, the dichotomous nature of a song does not become lackluster, and instead, becomes a poignant demonstration of the many twists, turns, and caverns of the human mind. With layers, sharp changes, and a whole lot of heart, ‘Fire’ proves to be a beast of a release from the band.
A twinkling yet haunting soundscape ushers you in calmly, before inducting you into a spiral of heavily layered guitars and loud drums. In mere moments, the listener is introduced to the vocals of Alison Jane - delicate, but extremely confident and assured in its delivery. To the eagle ear, you may recognise Alison’s vocals from the redux of The Amity Affliction’s monumental track ‘Pittsburgh’. With an underlying grit, there is a subtle foreshadowing as to where these vocals may lead, but even then, there is truly no preparing for the Jekyll and Hyde-like switch that possesses the second half of this track.
The tone of the track is somewhat spooky, stirring a kind of uncomfortableness that is not intrusive, but is evocative in its nature. As you delve further into the track, its notions of self-destruction, and the consequences of one’s own mind become poignant.
On the new single, Alison shares with WoS:
“‘Fire’ is the 'light' song on the EP and combines a huge chorus with an even bigger breakdown... Because who doesn't add a face-melting breakdown to the token softer song! (Sorry Mum...) I've struggled with anxiety and OCD since I was a kid, and wrote ‘Fire’ as a sort of way to express how it feels to watch everything you've worked for burn down and having to rebuild, knowing your own demons are to blame. The only way to break the cycle is to try and find your way back out of the rabbit hole."
As a fun fact, a fair chunk of ‘Fire’ was written back in 2021 as my uni submission, with the help of my mentor Ricky Armellino (probably partly the reason why Ice Nine is such an influence on me haha). He believed in me and my music, and now here we are!
With a chorus even more pronounced than the already roaring verses, ‘Fire’ continues on an upwards trajectory, escalating with more growth, understanding, will power, and fight to burn the personal demons that rule. This all culminates in a fully unleashed vocal performance from Alison- one that will have the listener clutching in fear as these gnarly and barbaric guttural sounds make themselves known. It is such a powerful juxtaposition to the fairy-tale world building at the start of the track, and is an awe-inspiring auditory representation of guilt turning into action.
The end of the track houses a beautiful marriage between calm and calamity, fostering a fragility in the now amplified instruments and layered screams. A softness amongst the brutality, the feelings conjured hit like a punch to the gut- of course, in the best way possible. Swirling through emotions and tones, All That’s Left captures the voices of many through one, adopting many different ways of presenting a story to indulge ‘Fire’ in many layers and understandings.
This track is a massive step forward for the band, and is accompanied by a pretty clever music video, seeing Alison shift through her many different personalities and instruments. But is filming the music video the hardest part about being the only one in the band?
“Honestly, I think its burnout. I produce, write, record, and compose all the music, and handle the video and social media side, all while working full time. I'm pretty fortunate though, to have a really supportive group of friends, family, and professionals that I work alongside that somehow manage to take the 4'11 screaming redhead seriously. At the end of the day, it's all about having fun and doing what you enjoy, and the smile I get from listening to my songs for 500th time makes all the hard work worth it”
You can catch ‘Fire’ down below- but watch out, you may need an extinguisher handy!
Words by Georgia Haskins @ghaskins2002
