From last year’s lush releases of “So Grown Up” and “IDK” to delicate early tracks such as “Dreaming Of”, Green has never veered too far from her DIY indie-pop roots, and 2022 sees her delve further into soundscapes of alternative electronica.
Despite, only having a handful of single releases, and an EP (I Can’t Cry For You) to her name, Manchester-based Green has supported the likes of The Courteeners and Everything Everything, had a track feature on BBC’s Killing Eve (“IDK”), all the while making it her mission to dominate the local festival scene.
Confronting her identity through thirteen astonishingly arranged cuts, Green’s debut record Lucky Me, takes its stead as her most raw and honest offering to date. Green self-interrogates to a blinding degree and holds up a mirror to her own psyche through bold lyricism and heartbreaking apparent vulnerabilities.
Opening number “Break Your Heart” resides in the same vein “Pure Blue” as she reflects on her close acquaintance with fixations. Laden with synths and overlapping harmonies, an infectious beat introduces us to this new, fresher Green sound. Title track, “Lucky Me”, offers a sultry dive into covering up self-destructive behaviours from the guilt of not feeling satisfied despite having a relatively ‘easy’ life (“don’t talk like that / you’re such a brat”). Her frustration is evident through driving instrumentation and insistent pop-filled drumbeats as she dissects her behavioural patterns.
Opting for a darker approach are tracks “DieDieDie” and “Make It Easy” that are filled with tension and overflow with emotion as they reflect on narratives of rejection, self-preservation (“before I lay out my intentions”), and PTSD.
Sitting in the same sonic corner as Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own”, “Crying In The Club” takes a stab at and electronica-heavy soundscape as she reflects on the themes found in her earlier track “Reinvent”, with the lyrics “I can shapeshift / I can fake shit” (mirroring “If I reinvent myself for every person that I meet / Will it make them stick around?”). Despite the parallels between the two, “Crying In The Club” couldn’t be further away from her roots, as the cut is laden with heavy synths and reverbed vocalisations.
Released as a pre-amble to the record, fifth number “Sweat”, further delves into the ideas of self-destruction (“I never know what to make of something good /Easier to ruin myself), as she denies herself of happiness for the familiarity self-sabotage.
The record also features its fair share of ‘almost’ ballads in the form of the delicate musings of “Clean” and, “I Wish You Never Saw Me Cry” and “One You Want”, who’s prismatic atmosphere’s offer a welcome contrast to the driving energies of pop cuts “Lucky Me” and “Leach”.
With Lucky Me, Phoebe Green arrives at a platform of peace and self-acceptance, after an arduous journey through criticisms and emotional excavation. Green’s debut foray into a full-length project highlights and accentuates her brilliant ability of penning narratives and churning out infectious alt-pop cuts.
