Jerusalem
Gazelle Twin Lyrics

The interesting thing about Gazelle Twin & NYX's song, Jerusalem, is that the actual song doesn't appear until the middle, the first half is a recitation of a phone call about an abandoned vehicle. The spoken-word introduction sets the scene for the haunting, industrial soundscape that follows. The opening phone call seems mundane and everyday, but somehow sinister and disorientating too. The repetition of “That’s the way to do it” punctuates the conversation like a non-sequitur, creating an unsettling sense of unease. The listener is thrown off-kilter, and the ordinary suburban visuals that the phone-call makes us imagine, coupled with the repetitive, hypnotic music, become charged with a kind of nervous energy. It’s never quite clear who the singer on the phone is, or why they are making the call, but that only adds to the sense of tension.

After the phone call, the actual song begins. The lyrics of the song are based on William Blake’s poem of the same name, describing his vision of Jesus travelling to England and finding a new Jerusalem. The song sound is a mix of electronic beats, grinding rhythms and choral vocals that seem to come from another time and place. Gazelle Twin's vocals are intense and dark, creating a sense of otherness that echoes the strangeness of Blake's vision. The song builds to a fever pitch, as the various vocal lines overlap and interweave, creating a sense of almost apocalyptic drama.

Overall, the song feels like a kind of fever dream, something that is both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. It is a powerful exploration of the anxiety and unease that can lurk beneath the surface of everyday life, and it seems to speak to the sense of dislocation and disorientation that many people feel in the modern world.