Sweden-based alternative rock artist ‘Green Suburban’ has just released his latest EP ‘II’ on 4/21/2022.
“II” takes the energy from previous EP “I” and tones it down, making its atmosphere a bit more somber. Yet again, the clarity in the production brings all of its color out. This EP is absolutely as amazing as the first. It shows Green Suburban’s ability to work with a deep emotional openness, and there’s such an introspectiveness captured in its writing. It has a captivating way in how it explores a religious awakening through the idea of heartbreak and pain. This EP consists of four tracks, “Rain Down,” “23:59,” “A Stranger’s Song,” and “You.”
The guitar line that pulls you into “Rain Down,” the first track of “II,” is chilling. There’s a bit of an underlying reverb that draws it out. There’s something immediately emotional about how the line is delivered, and it prepares you perfectly for its melancholy road ahead. When the vocals and guitar chords come in, the stereo production helps it all pop out and fill your atmosphere. The chorus is catchy, and Green Suburban makes amazing use of a soft and bright falsetto tone. The vocals break into a more growly belt within the verses, creatively working with the hurt within the sound. Lyrically, this track captures a sense of pain at the state of the world. It calls to a higher power for help on a planet that seems to be trapped in a cycle of endless turmoil. As put by the lyrics, “Smells like death is all around us / Sounds like there’s riots in the streets / The world is hurting please Lord help us.” Green Suburban is obviously pained by the state of the universe, and he’s calling for God to step in and help.
“23:59” gives the vocals a huge chance to shine. Once again, Green Suburban creatively works with vocal tone. The vocal hit is amazing as once again he starts soft and somber. When it breaks into his more belting tone, it delivers such a great punch. His vocal bends and riffs have a succinctness to them, and he utilizes great vocal control. There’s a lot of humanness in its sound, and its feeling is apparent. The instrumentation creatively works its way around the vocals, using percussion and guitar. The guitar solo at the end is a great little hook that adds a great tone shift. It’s like the emotion in the vocals transfers itself into the music that was once complementing it. In its lyrics, it explores another seemingly universal concept. The idea that due to society and the world, we feel like we are forced to rush. Everything is so hurried and quick, and many of us feel like we need to have everything figured out because it feels like we don’t have enough time left. Instead of asking for solace, Green Suburban finds his solace in this track, the God he believes in is what gives him the peace and rest that he needs. If only for a moment. There’s also a bit of a zen undertone at the end, as he says, “Breathe in / Breathe out / Breathe in.” He finally slows down and finds peace when everything seems so unpeaceful.
“A Stranger’s Song” has a bit more of a bounce to it. The percussion is creative and different from his other tracks. The guitar has a nice slappiness to it, complementing the beat. The vocals are nice bright and nasally. Once again, the stereo production brings everything out in a complementary way. The bass riffs are nice and round out the darker tones in the track. But then there’s the shift. A guitar solo and percussion slowly raise until they fade, and there’s a bit of a spoken word bit. There’s an ominous atmosphere in bending synths. There’s a nice vocal layer and echo in the background. It’s amazingly done, and there is a lot to explore in its creepy strangeness. It goes into a tale of not fitting in lyrically. It’s about feeling lost within the world around you and seeing the hurt that people feel, and the neglect by society of those people. It also says that “you’re wandering around with no direction home.” This calls out that he’s not the only ‘stranger,’ maybe it’s all of us that are strangers.
“You” changes direction a bit, there’s something upbeat and brighter, but it also continues the somber tone in the vocals and lyrics. The harmonica is a really nice touch and the percussion bounces you along. The vocal harmonies fill out the vocals quite nicely. This track is very raw, the acoustic guitar riff serving as a nice baseline. The way each instrument phases in and out is done cleanly. The vocals are nice, rounded out, and very full. This has a bit of a different tone than the previous tracks, and yet again, it will make you captivated by what ‘Green Suburban.’ can do. ‘You’ explores a whole different kind of emotion. Love, or the absence of love. It’s about wanting and loving someone and feeling alone though you have friends by your side. This track is nice and pretty, and it wraps everything up nicely.
Green Suburban, or Isak Skoglund, is an indie-rock artist based in Stockholm, Sweden. His music is amazing due to its creativity and the dynamic stories he tells with his poetic lyrics. This artist has a basis in psychedelic rock and has played guitar for several bands in the past. “II” is an amazing second EP release for this solo project. Green Suburban transcends genre with his diverse range of influences, and its folksy-rock basis has proven to be a great genre for him to play around with. “II” is now available on Apple Music, Spotify, and your streaming platform of choice.
Photo Credits: Benjamin Hailu
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