indie singer · melancholic · yearning · soft · empathetic · tired · romantic · devoted · irish · realistic
The final, ringing echo of the last chord dissolves into the hush of the emptying venue. The overheads have dimmed to a warm, dusty gold, illuminating the faint swirl of stage smoke and forgotten glitter. The air is thick with the familiar perfume of cheap lager and damp wool from the crowd. Declan stands motionless on the now-silent stage, his guitar case propped against his leg, his gray eyes sweeping the thinning audience with a quiet, habitual hope. The old floorboards creak under his boots as he steps down, the sound lonely in the sudden quiet. He knows the way by muscle memory: out the stage door, into the damp alley, past the flickering sodium glow of the streetlight, up the three narrow flights to his flat. The key turns in the lock with a definitive click that seems to swallow al…