Review Summary: Emotions say more than words ever could
Listening to
Chrysalis was a total trip for me. I rarely stumble into the realms of indie rock, and never shoegaze-influenced indie at that.
Chrysalis is an exceedingly brief EP, clocking in at just over seventeen minutes of music that moved me in ways I could not have expected before clicking on that random thumbnail. In that short time, and many times since,
She's Green sent me on quite the journey inward, one I would like to attempt to describe for you now.
My entire experience can be neatly summarized as musical synesthesia, in that listening to this EP felt like it activated senses that have nothing to do with the process listening. The plodding, gentle percussion lulls me into a trace-like state. The bright equally tranquil, metallic-tinged guitar notes and the beautiful progressions thereof start to effortlessly paint on the walls of my mind. Beautiful mental pictures coalesce from splashes of color - verdant landscapes drenched in sunlight. Valleys of shade and colorful flowers and tall trees filled with heavenly scents. The smell of damp earth after a brisk sun-lit shower and the glow of the world as light reflects from the puddles left behind. All these images and more hazily fade from one to the next encouraged by gentle ever so gradual shifts in tempo of the music. Frequently a wind sweeps across me as my mind wanders across these beautiful spaces in the form of a wave of goosebumps often triggered by the haunting, piercing, almost sickly sweet vocals courtesy of Zofia Smith. Most of the time, the pictures painted by these songs are perfectly serene like the sound of water gently lapping at a lakeshore as in the instrumentation during second verse of "Graze". Sometimes, darker clouds briefly disrupt the sunny daydream, like when the drums grow more bombastic and a fanning, almost melodeath-esque riff intrude in the closing moments of that song.
Above and beyond this sensory feast, abstract and difficult to explain emotions and feelings are suddenly given form. Sure, if someone asked you "what does it mean to feel at peace?" "How do you feel when you feel completely content?" "How would you describe a sense of nostalgic bliss?" You could probably launch into a long winded attempt at describing these abstractions using all the best words you know - or you could simply say "Listen to
Chrysalis - that is the answer to those questions." The whole time I was listening, the feeling was that of the best hug I've ever had - one that I would never wish to end. Two minute long track "Silhouette" would be the soundtrack to the happiest person in history's soul slowly drifting away after the end, looking back with fondness at a life well lived as memories came flooding back.
I haven't told you much about the music itself it's true, but this music gave me all of these experiences and many more. This to me says more than anything I could ever impart with a technical discussion of it. I can only hope it does the same for you. A spectacular piece of art I will cherish.
