FERGUS’ heavy “All You’re Not” is a bittersweet unveiling of pain drenched in silken indie folk sounds and hypnotic, melancholy melodies that find the artist growing as he delves ever-deeper into himself.
Stream: “All You’re Not” – FERGUS
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‘All You’re Not’ is riotous and vicious, about claiming your wounded self back by first rebuffing this deeply personal attack.
It’s been over two years since we helped introduce British singer/songwriter FERGUS to the world through his stunning debut single “You or Nothing,” and we continue to be shocked by the quality and caliber of his output. The London-based artist has proven himself a prolific and reliable musical force, releaseing three EPs over the last eighteen months to the tune of his haunting debut Purple Road, summer 2019’s stirring Three of Swords, and last December’s Close Quarters. FERGUS’ journey continued this year with his (anti-)Valentine’s Day release “Concave,” which found him diving ever-deeper into feelings of heartache, betrayal, and pain. That story continues today with the heavy April Fools’ Day release “All You’re Not,” a bittersweet unveiling of pain drenched in silken indie folk sounds and hypnotic, melancholy melodies.
An immersive, expansive, and expressive musical adventure, “All You’re Not” is all the proof we need to know that FERGUS is growing and evolving his artistry in real-time – finding new sounds, new grooves, and new ways of communicating the feelings that gnaw at his insides, begging for release.
Time slows
I can feel my feet again
Fresh airflow
Under the weight of your sentence
Everything you’ve said I can’t relate
– else you would have stayed
Anything you say now only proves
You want me to lose
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “All You’re Not,” the musically soothing, lyrically scathing companion single to FERGUS’ previous song, “Concave.”
In opening up about “Concave” for Atwood Magazine’s Love & Heartache 2020 Valentine’s feature, FERGUS shared how that track spoke to a time of immense intimate pain: “It captures a time where I was so stuck going over and over things in my head,” he explains. “I felt like I’d had my entire character assassinated by someone who had, not that long before, said they “loved everything” about me. It was such a shock – out of the blue really, and it’s hard to describe exactly why that is without going into a lot of stuff that came after this song, and without sounding super bitter…” (more here)
FERGUS continues his story of pain with the immensely vulnerable “All You’re Not,” in which the narrator is able to rise above the immediate present-day emotions and “see you for all you’re not” – understand what and who this person is that hurt them so badly. With a Middle Eastern tinge to his melodies and a fervent energy rippling through his voice, FERGUS reaches his peak in a chorus full of stripped-down rage: He doesn’t have to yell to convey that boiling torment inside.
Life?
You only see it spent
Inconsequent and oft unkempt
Through the lens of your discontent
Everything you’ve said I can’t relate
– else you would have stayed
Anything you say now only proves
I can see you for all you’re not
I can see you for all you’re not
I can see you for all you’re not
Up your nose or in your cup
In fact, “All You’re Not” sends a stronger message through its subdued music and mystic, percussive grooves than sheer shouting could ever express. “I can see you for all you’re not, and it breaks my heart,” the artist cooly sings later on, with a fire blazing inside.
“‘All You’re Not’ follows directly on from ‘Concave’. It’s a retaliation to being branded by someone as lacking in so many ways, and this is reflected in the artwork too,” FERGUS tells Atwood Magazine. “The veil has been lifted, and you see someone for who they were and what they were doing to you. How they wore you down and eroded your self-esteem completely. You finally see yourself again – not as this person who has all these things wrong with them, but as you. So, you stop feeling sorry for yourself and finally come unstuck from this slump, and free to heal because, actually, this person was wrong! They thought the way they did because they’re incapable of seeing anything from anyone else’s point of view and they’re also just SO defensive. Well, it’s your turn to be defensive. ‘All You’re Not’ is riotous and vicious, about claiming your wounded self back by first rebuffing this deeply personal attack.”
FERGUS continues, “The title has a few levels. Firstly, it’s them saying all these things that are wrong with you, and that these things trump all your other really great qualities. Secondly, you then saying, well hold on a minute I can see right through your facade – the cockiness and embellishing, avoidance through numbing – I’m the one who’s actually making progress, and able to listen and learn. And, thirdly, (perhaps to a lesser extent!) that you don’t think this person they are being is who they really are. I mean they can’t be otherwise you wouldn’t have fallen in love with them. Right?!“
It’s evident that FERGUS is still in pain – still reeling, to some degree – from what this person did to him – and while we can be so sorry that this pain befell him, it’s truly refreshing to experience emotions this raw, genuine, and real in music.
FERGUS is more vulnerable than 99% of his contemporaries; he’s an artist who surrenders his full self in song, offering complete transparency as he throws himself into his music.
“All You’re Not” feels so real, because it is so real: Dark and fierce on the inside, tense and mystic on the outside, FERGUS’ latest is an sonic weight to behold. Stream the song exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
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Stream: “All You’re Not” – FERGUS
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