In their 1982 gothic rock masterpiece, Pornography’s “A Short Term Effect,” The Cure takes listeners on a lyrical expedition through transient despair and melancholy. The opening lines, rife with the imagery of loss, set the stage for a narrative that navigates the fleeting nature of existence. The song’s imagery, stark yet beautifully evocative, paints a surreal, nightmarish tableau that reflects a psyche teetering on the edge of reality.
As All Hallows Eve casts its long, ghostly shadows, Chicago’s Dark-Wave ensemble, KILL SCENES, unfurl their eerie rendition of The “A Short Term Effect” alongside a bone-chilling video. Their cover preserves the original’s ghostly atmospherics, yet embroiders new textures that delve deeper into the song’s desolate ambiance, infused with a fresh dynamism in the strings and percussions. Producer and axeman Sean Whittaker crafts a thick tapestry of harmonics that encase the familiar heartbeat of the song’s rhythm, whilst songstress Meghan Lamb unleashes a riveting vocal performance, wielding the dark lyricism as if it were an extension of her soul. Her voice resonates with a chill-inducing fervor, reminiscent of a haunting chant echoing over cliffside waves crashing into the abyss below. If “A Short Term Effect” was a cry into the void, Lamb’s rendition is the somber echo reverberating back from the depths.
The video, envisioned by Whittaker, situates the band in a void—a liminal realm birthed from a catatonic dreamer’s thoughts, tethered to an old, broken radio. Glitched, degraded images leap into view, akin to memories hallucinated in real-time by a mind teetering on the edge.
Dive into the haunting visuals below:
KILL SCENES’ reimagining of “A Short Term Effect” also comes with a b-side, “The Chrysalis (Doomring Remix),” a re-envisioned track from their 2022 album, Masque, by artist/producer Tom Whittaker (aka Doomring).
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