Track Review: GILT – “Visitation”

Posted: by The Editor

Loss is a tricky subject. One that can be all-encompassing, all-suffocating, and yet all-motivating. It’s a theme that’s explored throughout music, but it’s also a theme that is hard to peg down just right. Loss is a universal truth that we all experience, although it seems that it is grieved vastly differently from person to person. This is why many musicians fall into the the cycle of writing downer songs that are wringed wet with overwhelming melancholy meant to see light only when skies are gray, or the songs become too specific and identifying that it is difficult for an audience to cling to its message with their own conviction. The middle-ground of mourning is no easy feat, but it’s bands like GILT that don’t have to worry about that. GILT have built quite a repertoire of music following a mantra of heavy-hearts yet high-spirits, which seamlessly evokes loss in ways that many in the scene struggle to grasp.

Florida-based, queer, sadcore group GILT is no stranger to writing and performing themes of loss. Most of their discography centers around various types of it- something that is usually not performed headfirst which makes their message that much more important. In their newest single, “Visitation”, the group explores the definition of loss in its entirety, first being written by lead vocalist, Tyler Fieldhouse, about his grandmother’s passing, the group redefined it as not only loss in a loved one, but loss in relationships and loss in how one mourns being away from what they cherish while on the road. It’s no surprise that the grieving process is almost perfectly executed throughout the track with GILT’s crestfallen musicality and Fieldhouses’ wavering vulnerability in each sung lyric. One feels the emotional upheaval but also the underlying defiance of not allowing death and loss to completely overtake the mind. With the trembling bridge admitting, “Cause you’re gone but you’re still not dead to me. Cause death’s familiar, but it’s still not family” the statement feels like a resistive resolute. Something that will definitely be chanted loud at any show “Visitation” is performed at. 

As the saying goes, “pain is a catalyst for growth” and GILT knows that. GILT represents that. It’s exciting to see what this band’s growth is going to produce going forward.

Disappointing / Average / Good / Great / Phenomenal


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Hope Ankley / @Hope_ankleknee


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