Fallon Cush – essentially the vehicle for musician and songwriter Steve Smith – is cementing their recent come back with the release of a delicate new single ‘I’m Trying’ – a bittersweet exposition of vulnerability. The delivery is naked and raw, dealing with the debilitating nature of anxiety faced by Smith in a period in 2020 when the band went into a hiatus. Smith says of the track:
It was written at about 3am one morning, at the time I was trying to get on top of the anxiety that had crept into my life. It had stopped being about anything in particular, if it ever was and had morphed into a continuous feeling of being anxious about being anxious. No matter what I did, 2.30am every night/morning, like someone had set an alarm I’d wake up with overwhelming anxiety and have to get up for a couple of hours until it settled down.
The sense of quite desperation and melancholy seeps through every note, and Smith reveals it comes from a very personal space:
The song is confessional, the admission to my wife of what had been going on, which I’d avoided telling her. It would’ve been much quicker to just tell her what she already knew but my mind was playing tricks on me at that time.
This is a heart-achingly beautiful portrayal of the doubt and vulnerability caused by one’s own mind, and Smith’s visceral delivery hints at the redemption and recovery songwriting can bring:
‘I’m Trying’ is out today and available through the link below where you can pre-order the EP, and through streaming services here.
You can catch Fallon Cush live at a rare appearance on Sunday, 12 November 2023 -details below and tickets available here.
Feature Photograph: Michael Carpenter
