Belgian multi-instrumentalist Jan Geysen pulls the curtains tight on his haunting new single, “Should I”. Hailing from Brasschaat, the emerging slowcore artist acts as a one-man cinematic orchestra, handling every instrument himself to conjure a profoundly isolating, neo-noir atmosphere. He draws from the deep wells of Mark Lanegan and Leonard Cohen, carrying their heavy torch into a uniquely tender kind of doom.
The music thrives entirely in the dark. A slow, heavily reverberating twang hangs in the air, floating elegantly above a subdued, steady pulse. It absolutely refuses to hurry. That drawn-out, mournful melody bends around you, mapping out a sonic landscape of sheer mental exhaustion. Geysen is writing from the bottom of an anxiety-ridden trench here. His lyrics tackle the terrifying vulnerability of confessing your inner darkness to a romantic partner, practically pleading with them to act as a human sanctuary.
It creates a gorgeous juxtaposition: crushing, restless despair wrapped inside a remarkably comforting cinematic indie texture. You feel the heavy eyelids. You feel the desperate yearning for a quiet mind.
When the terrifying buzz of your own thoughts becomes deafening, whose silence do you borrow to survive the night?
