Terry Blade is a Chicago soul singer-songwriter who, armed with his sultry baritone, explores taboo issues of sexuality and mental health in this rapidly changing world. Ignoring commercial trends, he aims to embrace an artistic sound that fuses R&B with indie singer-songwriter influences, to express his individuality in a unique way.
An iconoclast in the making, his songs often speak about the issues affecting the black and queer communities, showcasing raw emotional truths, that he expresses as an opening to a universal appeal, allowing the listener to get a pause from the frenzy of their day and reflect on life.
His debut EP titled ‘Misery (Mastered for Headphones)’ is a stripped down, raw, organic production that is far from having a commercial sound and is infused in an acoustic lo-fi vibe. Hovering and exploring the themes of depression, grief and loss, mental illness, insecurity, and relationships, the style and the musical aesthetic are fully centered around Terry’s voice, words, and emotions.
The emotional path Blade designed unfolds along the 6 tracks that make up the EP, moving through trembling vibrations, rough tensions and restless explorations, all to make us really experience the genuine, thoughtful isolation and heartbreaking sense of struggle that fill Terry in his performance.
Right from the opening track, ‘The Unlovable’, Blade immediately projects us into the tense and passionate atmosphere of his EP. Here we immediately find that daily struggle that Terry faces while relating with himself and with those around him, reflected in a deceptively sweet sound, made even more scratchy by the weight of words and theme of the following ‘The Mental ill’.
Blade’s fire continues to burn at a slow pace, leading us into the feelings of loss and unspoken things of ‘The Widow’, carrying on the story, or rather the epos, of a tormented and aching soul, that then flows into ‘The Broken’. From R&B to blues, here Blade resonates more and more visceral, while he sharpens the drift of his creative inspiration.
‘The Other Side’ follows suit, with an exquisite acoustic and human touch that seems to resolve the entire EP as a choral epilogue. But Terry surprises us once more thanks to ‘Tik Tok (The Lonely)’, the real curtain that, albeit with a suspenseful atmosphere, closes this passionate roundup of emotions.
Free from commercial and frivolous approaches, Terry Blade gives us his version of a push to the soul. His ‘Misery (Mastered for Headphones)’ is a listening that gives life to touching, often painful, feelings that many do not want to face, and yet it’s capable of resonating with the afflictions of many lost souls out there.
Terry’s debut EP, ‘Misery (Mastered For Headphones)’, is available for streaming and purchase on all the major digital platforms. Find you preferred one, checking the links below: