Anthony Green
Would You Still Be In Love

Release Date: 2018 | Tracklist

Throughout the personal ups and downs of Anthony Green's life, he has always painfully worn his heart on his sleeve for the entire world to witness, and the world has graciously sang along with him. The busy bee that he is, Green has been consistently churning out music with either the bands he is in, or his own solo work. "Would You Still Be In Love" is the fifth solo album released by Green, right off the heels of his main band, Circa Survive, and their latest album "The Amulet". This man with the golden voice is constantly making music, always giving his fans something to clamor over. In the past few years alone, he's put out two solo albums, a New Circa Survive album, a newly reunited Saosin album, and is currently stirring something up with The Sounds Of Animals Fighting. All of that doesn't even factor into all of the nonstop touring he does, which may have been the catalyst for this newest release and the content that it holds.

Albeit, it's the shortest Anthony Green album to date, it's also the most devastatingly heartbreaking string of songs he's ever put down on wax. "Vera Lynn" opens the album, and gives off a false tone of sweetness, but underneath the veneer lies a woeful wistfulness that permeates every note he strums and sings. The exact same thing could be said for the following track "Love", which is actually a cover from the 1973 animated movie "Robin Hood". Anthony takes that innocent song, and gives it such a haunting appeal that you'll find it stuck in your head for days to come. The middle section of the album is by far the best, and is where the atmosphere and mood grows much bleaker and much, much darker. The back-to-back trio of "You're So Dead Meat", "Keep Your Mouth Shut", and "When I Come Home" is some of the most desolate and dread-filling material I've ever heard come from the likes of Green. These are the three songs that I absolutely cannot stop listening to, and if there were any cries for help hidden within this album, it would definitely be in this progression of songs. If the 1:00 mark of "Keep Your Mouth Shut", and that falsetto-crooning vocal melody doesn't hit you right in the gut, then you must be made of pure stone. But that's not to say that there isn't any glimmer of hope lying within the album. Songs such as "Real Magic", "A Little Death", and "Changing Shape" sooth the mind and body from the soul-crushing realities you experience early on in the album. Thankfully, it adds somewhat of a balance to the despair that ebbs and flows throughout the track listing.

In retrospect, I should've seen this type of album coming. He can be relatively transparent on his social platforms, and that's okay. After all, he's just a flesh and bone human being like the rest of us. Snippets of his anxieties and self-deprecation have appeared on his earlier albums. From his debut album Avalon all the way to his previous release Pixie Queen, there's always a tinge of melancholy attached. I fully admit that I am an Anthony Green fanboy, but this record puts a bit of fear into me. I'm scared for his mental health and his well-being. I don't know the man personally, but I can completely empathize and see through the veil. I want this man to continue making his art and not succumb to his own personal headspace. I can only hope the best for an artist whose music helped me through some very tough times in my own life. So, if you happen to find yourself at one of his shows or one of his social media platforms, even if you're reading this review five or ten years from now, give this man a giant hug and tell him all the nice things that any human would want to hear. If we all supported each other, the world might not be so bad to coexist in.

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3.7 great