Ian Fisher

Single review by Gabrielle Groves

                                       Photo by: Jean Fisher

It’s not easy losing a loved one, especially when it’s someone so close to you. There are both inquisitive and hypothetical questions, complicated feelings, and grief that needs a place to go. Since grief is such a strong sensation, it takes time to be (somewhat) at peace with it. The process is mainly described in five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, which singer-songwriter Ian Fisher knows about all too well.

In 2023, Fisher lost his mother, Jean, to cancer that she had been fighting for almost three decades. Fisher said, “In the immediate aftermath of my mom’s death, I remember feeling like a planet had been removed from the solar system.” About a year later, Fisher began writing what would become his latest song, ‘The Face of Losing.’ Throughout the track, Fisher recalls how he felt following his mother’s passing and how those around him gave him “unhelpful or distracting advice” to deal with the pain. At the end of the day, that’s something only he could figure out for himself. The light guitar and Fisher’s deep yet soft voice make the listener want to close their eyes and simply breathe. In response to the song, Fisher says that he would like to eliminate the stigma surrounding death so that no one has to feel lost when it inevitably happens to someone they know. 

The album cover for ‘The Face of Losing’ has a special meaning as well. On his Facebook page, Fisher shares memories of his mother and also reveals that the nostalgic photo on the album cover was one that she had taken. Looking through the photos and videos, you can really see the impact that his mother had on him and others who knew her. It goes to show that a picture may be worth a thousand words, but the emotions evoked from it are priceless.