Formed in early 2015, Italian melodic hardcore quintet What We Lost continue to emerge as an impressive European talent, holding their own with some of the genre's leading up-and-comers. Their new EP Pretend To Sleep was released on February 7th and we asked the band to tell us about each track. Check out their commentary on the EP below.
ENOUGH
“I constantly have that feeling that makes me think I'm not good enough” – “Enough” is about the end of a relationship. It was the first time I really struggled with anxiety. I've always been anxious, but I think that's the first time I really understood what suffering with anxiety meant.
“My lungs refuse to inhale new oxygen” - During the day, I used to find myself holding my breath, trying to fight the pain. It goes without saying, that was completely useless. It was, in some ways, a sort of tic I developed these past few years. Doing this all day long made my lungs and stomach numb due to the constant contractions.
“When I refused to heal my wounds you dig your nails into me” - During this difficult time, the person who left wasn't of any help. To me, she seemed completely disinterested in what my conditions were. That was the thing that, after all those years, hurt me the most.
“After all these years do you still love me?”
LUNGS
The song is about the moments after the end of a relationship, when you drown in your regrets. The idea of the bedroom embodies the regret, which was is a symbol for both relief and agony (“I'm miles away from home and this room is my hell”), and the idea of home, which represents closure and moving on.
STILL
This is a song about solitude and abandonment. It wishes to describe the lack of self-confidence and the anxiety that result from a breakup. Those moments when all you can really do is wallow in your sorrow, with the weight of the whole world on your back and nobody to help you through it. It's about being used to sharing your life with someone else, and being forced to start thinking as an "I", rather than a "We".