she's green Unlocks Moss Magic on 'swallowtail'
Within the first thirty seconds of “locket” off of she’s green’s new EP, swallowtail, shimmering soundscapes open up into a vast, lush bed of glassy guitars, engulfing you in a dimension somewhere between a deep slumber and a dream state. Zofia Smith’s silky vocals glide along the fuzzy progressions almost as if she were transformed into an instrument of her own.
Formed in the college DIY scene in Minneapolis, Zofia Smith, Raines Lucas, Kevin Seebeck, Teddy Norvold, and Armstrong all play pivotal roles in a band that ventures into alt-rock, dream-pop, and indie shoegaze territory. After releasing their debut EP Wisteria in 2023, the group graduated from college and took their basement jam sessions to stages across North America alongside bands like Slow Pulp, Soft Cult, and Glixen. Defining their discography as “moss music,” you quickly learn that the record embraces an identity outside of genre walls and reaches for something beyond the stars: “I want it to feel like an escape,” Smith says about their sonic DNA.
An invitation to crawl deeper into their fantasy land comes in the form of “dear ivy,” where ethereal melodies float around like a blown dandelion pappus. There’s rich prose embedded within the atmospheric track that elevates their take on shoegaze to new heights, as Smith’s vivid illustration of sharp yearning melts right into the song’s bones: “The poison’s bending & winding / Stretching out like weeds / They’re choking on all their money tonight / oh honey hold me.”
Traces of their signature dewy and warm production can be found in the atmospheric, “paper thin,” where Smith stands stranded in a fading love that shows no mercy. Her wails of devastating desire carry the song on its back until the last thirty seconds when her vocals are swallowed whole by airy, sparkling instrumentation.
“We’re really trying to listen closely to what the song’s personality is. I almost think of songs as like people; I’m like, what do you wanna be? Who are you?” Smith opens up about their headspace as a band. Their zeal and proclivity for tapping into an instinctual music-making process bubbles to the surface in “empty house,” a stripped-down track that hums with gentle, suffocating cries: I’m all choked up in a stream / All choked up in this dying empty house / I hope it’s beautiful / I’m tired of holding it in.” Their sound quickly reshapes in “mettle” as Smith cuts through thrashing guitars with heavy pleading: “We’ll make it out / sinking through this cruel world for progress / trying not to cave in.”
Rounding out the project is “close your eyes,” a seven-minute-long sweet reverie that longs to stay for a little longer. “I will see you again / I will feel you again / I will hold you again,” Smith draws out for each line, as if a goodbye shouldn’t arrive just yet.
A delicate element of mystery drapes over she’s green, which is slowly pushing them to the forefront of the shoegaze revival. There’s more to the rising act than meets the eye, and we’re ready to immerse ourselves in whatever part of the woods they find themselves in next. Listen to their new EP, swallowtail, now available on all streaming platforms.
