By Cyndi Ingle
Grace Gillespie’s new track, Empty in the Capital, was written prior to the pandemic lockdown and expresses her feelings of isolation, frustration and fear as she copes with life in the bustling and over populated city of London, England.
And now, as many of us are unwillingly spending more time in our homes, Gillespie’s dreamy pop/folk song takes on an increased relevance to a wide audience.
What captures one’s attention are Gillespie’s distinctive and lilting vocals that thread in and out of the whimsical melody. Working with song writing acumen the track’s stark lyrics capture what many are feeling right now.
“It is what it is/not what it ought to be/not exactly what you wanted not exactly what you need/but I am comfortable with knowing that our consciousness is growing/learning to destroy ourselves and blame it on something else.”
A brutally honest and from the heart Facebook post provides context for Empty in the Capital as Gillespie shares that she’s been struggling with an anxiety disorder for the past eight years. The illness takes the form of claustrophobia, and she has difficulties sitting in lecture theatres, flying on planes, and travelling by train or bus. By her openness, on her post and also laying her soul bare in Empty in the Capital, she is letting people know that they are not alone in their struggles. Her long held secret is displayed in the hopes of helping others.
As Gillespie explains, “The track very much follows the pattern of a day for me. Much of my time is spent trying to reassure myself through rationalizing and acceptance, heard in the song’s verses, coupled with outbursts of inward frustration that I express in the choruses. We are trying with all our hearts to make the most of this gift of time and be ‘grateful for the day’ but then realizing that we are sipping coffee and trying to create while ambulances are filing past.”
Empty in the Capital is a track that will stay with you, as will the track’s video. Gillespie arranges the song’s lyrics on walls surrounding her, and we come to understand her feelings of claustrophobia in a truly visceral manner.
