Bristol, U.K. outfit Svalbard have release a new single along with its video. “Listen to Someone” is taken from the band’s third album, When I Die, Will I Get Better?, out on September 25th Translation Loss / Holy Roar.
Vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Serena Cherry shared the following statement about the new song:
“There’s a lot of well-meaning discussions about mental illness online, and whilst I appreciate that talking about mental illness helps reduce the stigma that depression is a weakness, I do take issue with this catchphrase: ‘Speak to someone,'” says Cherry. “It’s a common sentiment expressed in mental health discourse — people want to make it known that sufferers can speak to them if they’re feeling down, which is a clearly a kind and caring act. However, I would much rather the emphasis was placed on listening to someone. ‘If you want to talk about the most difficult, darkest aspects of your mental health, I will listen without judgement.’ Something like that is an improvement. You can feel the shift in sentiment.
“As someone who has struggled with depression, someone offering to listen to me is far more reassuring than someone instructing me to talk to them. When a person urges someone with depression to speak about it, it places the onus on the mentally ill to reach out, which is actually a really difficult thing for a depressed or anxious person to do. Also, if someone does choose to confide about the darkest depths of their depression to you, you need to be truly prepared to listen. This means: not getting impatient or frustrated with the person for being unable to be ‘cheered up,’ not wincing at the topic of suicide, not alienating mentally ill people with dramatic reactions to their words. It’s all very well and good to encourage people to speak to someone, but people also need to be prepared to listen to the mentally ill without making judgement.”
Listen/watch “Listen to Someone” below: