Written by Fred Carlyle
Joe Terror - the stage name of ex-Naarm resident’s eclectic rock n roll singer Jayden Hebbard - is far from being a stranger when it comes to our city’s local music scene. Having released his first record ‘Blame It’ way back in 2015 Joe Terror to this day has 6 albums and 2 EPs under his belt with each release of his somehow managing to further broaden the horizon of his capabilities, showcasing his brilliance at having a subversively eclectic sound while keeping his albums cohesive with each other via his gripping old-school rock vocals and attention-catching storytelling.
Personally this isn’t my first time dealing with Joe Terror. Back in 2022 I caught the artist in a sort of purgatory, transitional state of genre while reviewing his EP ‘Sir Joseph Pop Tart’. Having broken record ways with the gritty, proto-punk shockwave of his previous album Queen of Smiles, Blues & the Devil, Sir Joseph Pop Tart showcased a more tender yet still very loose side of Joe with tracks such as the country tinged ‘Why Can’t We Stay’ having retrospectively given us an idea of what was to come from Joe in the following years.
For a while now we’ve seen a steady transformation In Joe Terror’s sound . Releases such as his 2023 EP ‘Sign of the Times’ displayed a solid switch into folk, ditching the in-your-face grittiness of distorted electric guitars and blown-out vocals for acoustic, almost Violent-Femmes like soundscapes that worked in a subtle fashion to further accentuate his powerful singing style.
Now, without further ado, let’s delve into Goodbye Song, Joe Terror’s most recent release and today’s song of topic which serves as the phenomenal second taste for what to expect from his upcoming seventh album ‘My Great and Grand Return’.
Providing us with a jaunty and humble collection of acoustics including double bass acoustic guitar, lap slide guitar and a mini grand piano; the instrumentals of this track establishes this almost blues grassy barnyard atmosphere. There's a care-free yet polite nature to the loose yet mellow sounds that makes you feel like you’re singing candidly with your mates round a campfire.
To pair with the pleasantries of easy-listening instrumentals we’re given Terror’s heavy hearted vocals as he delivers his lyrics in a slowed and sleepy fashion which comes across as strong yet weathered, like a tired and strained smile in the early morning when you’re still feeling hazy.
Something that will always impress me with Joe’s songwriting is his bittersweetness. There's a great balance of happy and sad conveyed through this track via a Yin-and-Yang combination of the soundscape and Joe’s voice. The conflicting nature of the jaunty twang of acoustics in an open room tells you to take it easy, whereas Joe’s vocals carry out his lyrics with a sobering weight, prompting you to sit and brood with your thoughts thus giving you a incredibly engaging song experience that feels complex, up for personal interpretation and not spoon-fed.
The lyricism of Goodbye Song reflects Joe Terror’s dealing with alcoholism; telling us
through imagery and metaphors his Photo Credit: seanxdwyer
escape from Melbourne to New South Wales’ Pillar Valley in an effort to successfully recover. The vulnerable and reflective story within this song is conveyed fantastically through the track’s previously mentioned conflict of emotions. The combination provides an amazing sense of feeling simultaneously melancholy and uplifted as we slide from drowsy verses to beautiful, harmonic choruses which capture that introspective reflection of being in a better stage of your life now while still needing time to heal from your past’. There’s a peace to this song, yet an acknowledgement of the effort put through to gain that peace.
You can find Joe Terror on Instagram here
Listen to Goodbye Song on Instagram here
Kommentit