On the Verge is Quantum‘s second single from the upcoming album Down the Mountainside which is set for release on April 19, 2024. The lyrical themes of the album deal with humans alter egos – or masks – that people in our society rely on in order to get by with their everyday lives, and how these affect them psychologically and eventually lead them towards a breaking point. On the Verge is a perfect example of this.
Anton Ericsson explains On the Verge
On the Verge is a song that hooks you in with a propulsive and strange – yet captivating – groove, hypnotising guitar riffs, some really cool chords, and a lead vocal that shifts between being aggressive in the verse, soaring in the epic chorus and somber in the beautiful interlude. All musicians get the shine – there are aggressive drum and bass bits, shimmering acoustic guitar textures, a juicy solo and much much more – all contained in a very concise and cohesive package with a really nice flow!
Lyrically, it deals with domestic violence, and focuses on your typical “too nice” guy who bottles up on his emotions and then snaps – releasing his fury on his partner/child (I’m leaving it up to your interpretation). Once I learned that statistically, we all know someone who is – or will be – like that, I started thinking about whether or not you, as their friend/family member, could see it coming or prevent it. The lyric is basically what I imagined I’d tell him before (verse 1), and after (verse 2) he “snapped” (interlude).
Metaphorically, I describe his rage as a machine that he himself loses control over and gets stuck in. Hence the first line, “A man stands hiding a large machine”. It’s a rather strange thing to say – it’s basically a contradiction – and I like it, because it really gets you thinking and asking questions. It’s probably my favourite “first line” on this record.
