JORDAN MIDDLETON
In 2019, Svalbard singer Serena Cherry was hit by a black cloud so thick and all-encompassing, she couldn’t see a way out. She had watched people close to her battle depression, and had endured sporadic visits from the black dog herself in the past. But nothing like this.
She stopped eating - “I physically couldn’t get that pleasure anymore” - and encountered fits of uncontrollable crying, describing the period as the toughest of her life. “I got out of an abusive relationship, which is what [the band’s recent single] Open Wound is about,”she says. “It’s a really grey area and you have so many conflicting emotions when you’re in love with someone who hurts you.”