Melbourne alternative rock band Stuck Out have today released an acoustic version of their song “Empty Sheets”. Originally released last year on What We’ve Come to Be EP, the acoustic version more firmly finds itself stagnating underneath metaphorical cold sheets than the original.
It’s slowed down and the emotional weight is palpable, saying ‘it’s just me here, broken and alone’. The sentiment echoed by a lone guitar.
“Empty Sheets” is a virtual heart on a plate, laying out what they’ve been through and how they got here, with mistakes made along the way. They seem to be saying “I’d hate me too” to their former lover, and maybe also to the world.
“Pull the shades over my eyes
And find another way to victimise the situation you conceived
So run away and let me breathe”
The vibe is vulnerable, finding themselves stripped bare and devoid of strength, asking for their heart to be torn open, and taken from them, along with everything else, because that’s how they feel. There’s nothing left here, having given so much, loved so much, even though it wasn’t great. They feel like nothing anymore, wounded by their lover’s carelessness and deception in the face of difficulty, instead of what she could have done; waited, stayed, tried.
There’s disbelief along with the pain, and the question of how they’re supposed to carry on. Subtle shakiness in the rawness via guitar expresses a loss of grip of reality, as they find themselves falling away into nothingness.
It’s a potent and beautiful track. Listen:
Band photo: Lord Media
