Offering an introspective glimpse into what’s in store, ‘Dead’ has got fans hooked. The four-piece from Brighton really strip things back on this track creating a more intimate feel and devastating tone.
The combination of heavy guitars and drums behind frontwoman Izzy B. Phillips’ soft vocals give the track an angelic sound whilst also radiating passion. It invites you to feel as a listener rather than excite, as it favours a more melancholic ballad style. Presented by a stillness to the instrumental, it allows for the emotion in the lyrics to carry the weight of the listening experience. Mainly characterised by the pain in Izzy B Phillips voice, you can feel the betrayal and disassociation.
The central message of the song describes the numbness and detachment a person can go through due to betrayal - the damage has already reached a point of no return. The lyric “You can’t kill me now because I’m already dead” signifies just how much hurt they’ve endured. The metaphor “You couldn’t decide to stab my back or my eyes” only adds to this idea of a wounding treachery where it compares both a deceitful betrayal but also one so obvious that you become blind to the truth. Both equally a heartbreaking experience and one that in this track is shown to have such a fatal aftermath of already feeling dead.
Izzy sings about “still processing the narrative of our situation” which feels clear as she’s addressing the person that the song is based around. Even the line “Just press on the knife” suggests that she’s aware the person is going to deepen her pain, but she’s discovering that it doesn’t really make a difference to her. She even describes them as being “nice”, which is filled with resentment, probably because it hides the real version of the individual.
In the final moments before the last chorus, there’s an instrumental section that allows fans to absorb the depth of the song and connect with the message. It creates time for reflection as the weight of the song still lingers, even after it abruptly ends. On the whole this track will definitely resonate with its audience as Black Honey take a step towards even more authenticity and self-exploration through their music.
Emma Turner
Image: Frank Fieber
