Five months after releasing the excellent album, We Live In Hope, the Last Days Of Rome have released new single ‘Terrified’.

Last Days of Rome is the solo project of UK-based singer/songwriter Jon Behrendt who writes and performs guitar-led indie-pop.

We Live In Hope, his fourth album, dealt with middle age, unfinished business, private worries and the small comforts of ordinary life. It was an album that conveyed what can best be described as ‘low-key hope’. Hope that was less of triumphant, and more a decision just to keep going.

With ‘Terrified’, the balance tips to further away from hope, to something Behrendt describes as “staring into the void”. It captures a very modern kind of dread, littered with false starts, loose ends and information overload. Whilst reassurance arrives in the closing lines, it is deliberately slight … “we’ve still got time”.

The sound has darkened to match. Where the album leaned on reflective indie rock, ‘Terrified’ is more synth-forward and brooding. Expansive, layered guitars sit alongside the electronic layers in a way that recalls early Radiohead and the majestic synth textures of The Cure at their most expansive. Behrendt also names Interpol and The Twilight Sad as influences.

Sam Clifton’s mix and master give the track weight without losing clarity, so the darkness never turns murky.

With one single left this year, ‘Terrified’ suggests Behrendt is ending 2026 in a more searching, uneasy place. Hope hasn’t gone, but he’s looking fear directly in the eye. I love the new sound and direction, and look forward to see where he goes next.

Give it a listen.