MUSIC | NEW MEXICO
She’s green to play Santa Fe, Arenas Valley
New album ‘swallowtail’ drops on July 10
She’s green is heading to New Mexico on the heels of the release of its single “close your eyes” and a few weeks before the July 10 release of its new album, “swallowtail.”
She’s green is made up of vocalist Zofia Smith, guitarists Liam Armstrong and Raines Lucas, bassist Teddy Nordvold and drummer Kevin Seebeck. The band will perform in Santa Fe on Friday, June 26, and in Arenas Valley on Sunday, June 28.
The band is touring several small cities nationally, which Lucas said was cool because they were visiting places most bands hadn’t.
“It’s really great to hear people come up and be like, ‘Nobody comes here, I usually have to drive like three hours for shows. I can’t believe you guys are here,’” Lucas said.
Smith said crowd reactions to the songs reveal a roller coaster ride of energy.
“Sometimes they’ll look out and people are closing their eyes, or like they’re with their partner and they’re moving back and forth and smiling,” Smith said, “and then other times, we have upbeat songs that people like jumping around, and it can be super fun and energetic.”
The band’s music, she said, is relaxing and healing for some people, evoking a sense of peace and otherworldliness. She became interested in this type of music when she began listening to dream pop and similar genres.
“I just really loved how it felt like you’re being wrapped in a blanket,” Smith said, “and I think that’s something that’s really special, and I think getting to share that with other people is cool.”
Armstrong said the band’s music is diverse, spanning a wide range of textural experimentation.
“All the songs on the album are pretty unique to themselves,” Armstrong said.
The band said “swallowtail” goes in different directions for different songs. While there is no completely new direction, Lucas said, they went further with some songs to see how far the band could push themselves.
Ahead of the album release, she’s green released several singles. Some, like “empty house,” demonstrate the new directions the band was trying out, while others like “paper thin” show the band staying close to its roots, Smith said.
Then there was “close your eyes,” a favorite of she’s green that took them a few years to finish. Smith said it was rewarding to see the song completed, and the band wanted it to get the attention it deserved.
“We didn’t want to just have it at the end of the EP and some people would miss it,” Smith said.
Lucas said in some ways the band was still young and figuring out its sound.
“I think it’s cool to like explore all the different sides of our music, instead of kind of just sticking to a formula,” he said.
Elizabeth Secor is an arts fellow for the ϼ. You can reach her at esecor@abqjournal.com.