Single reviewsThe Other Side Reviews

No Vacancies – Without You (2021)

Over the last year, we have all felt the emotions that No Vacancies has infused into their single ‘Without You’. A track about longing to see someone you can’t, it considers all the issues and emotions that come with this. While steeped in yearning, it tries to make the best out of a bad situation and helps you feel at ease with everything.

Will Mcgarrie (vocals, guitar), George Sheasby (drums, backing vocals), Ben Naylor (bass, backing vocals) and Cedric Duding (guitar) wrote the single during the first UK lockdown. While Mcgarrie and Sheasby have known each other for years, Naylor and Duding starting playing with them in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Together, they have taken what they felt in the first lockdown and moulded it into an electric single.



‘Without You’ opens slowly with sounds like the band is getting ready to play live. The guitar line that comes in hooks you instantly. The guitar-driven melody has an interplay between the guitar layers that creates a depth to the music. The pulse of the drums shivers through your chest when the music takes a slower turn. The movement of the music captures the waves of yearning you feel when you can’t meet someone.

Mcgarrie’s vocals have a raw and honest feeling to them as they growl along the guitars. He infuses a strong longing into each word with this coming to a climax on the chorus. His performance matches the movement of the music as he whispers only to call out against the guitars. There is an electrifying feeling to his performance that weaves between the guitar riffs that send you soaring. There is an understated feeling to the music that captures the emotions of the track more than any large production ever could.

No Vacancies fills you with longing while sending you soaring on the guitar-driven melody of ‘Without You’. Using an understated melody and emotive vocals, the band captures the feeling of yearning to see someone while accepting that you can’t. With electrifying vocals that offer a nuanced approach to the subject, the band hooks you to their sound.

Find out more about No Vacancies on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.

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