SINGLE REVIEW: Somebody Else (feat. Fifteen Rhema) – I Fear

‘…one of those bristling, special examples that takes those core shoegaze ideas, and ignites them with an undeniable and bold flair…’

Based out of Fort Worth, Texas, Somebody Else came together back in 2021, and from then on, have released a steady stream of projects that have showcased a ferocious merger of ideas from emo and shoegaze. Last year saw the four-piece release their debut full-length, ‘Life Without You’, yet the momentum that this outfit have been building shows no signs of slowing.

Bringing on board Eric Lovenburg of fellow Fort Worth outfit Fifteen Rhema, ‘I Fear’ is a colossal blast of post-hardcore shaded shoegaze. Grappling with the anxiety that stirs in the moments before perceived disaster, this is a moody, brooding shoegaze cut with some real bite to it. Layers of dreamy guitars reverberate above weighty, shimmering percussion, unfurling with a visceral, simmering tension that refuses to settle.

Lovenburg makes for a fantastic presence during the track’s raw and piercing bridge. Contrasting Somebody Else’s sumptuous and dreamlike vocal melodies, Lovenburg crashes in with inhuman screams that stab out atop of scraping, cacophonous guitars. It is a perfect moment of catharsis that pays off so well thanks to the careful sense of escalation Somebody Else have crafted throughout.

Shoegaze has been all the rage amongst alternative spaces for some time now, yet most lacks anything that defines it beyond a nostalgia for an aesthetic. ‘I Fear’ is one of those bristling, special examples that takes those core shoegaze ideas, and ignites them with an undeniable and bold flair. It’s the perfect kind of single that makes you immediately jump to checking out the rest of a band’s discography, and hope that there is plenty yet to come.

For Fans Of: TNL VZN, Love Is Noise, Careful Gaze, Thursday, Turnstile

Featured photo credit belongs to Gioccardo Compean (@dirrge).

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