It can be easy for the shoegaze genre to confuse repetition with cohesion, but not for she’s green, and especially not on their newest EP, swallowtail. Across seven emotion-driven tracks, the band crafts something that feels close-knit and intimate, yet endlessly expansive. With swallowtail, she’s green proves that an atmospheric soundscape isn’t simply a backdrop for them, but a carefully crafted element that’s a part of the story itself.
She’s green has quickly emerged as one of the most compelling new names in dream-pop and modern shoegaze, composing what they uniquely describe as “moss music” — a lush, immersive musicality that feels as though it’s been plucked straight from an overgrown forest. Formed in Minneapolis’ DIY scene in 2022, the five-piece — Zofia Smith (vocals), Liam Armstrong (guitar), Raines Lucas (guitar), Teddy Nordvold (bass) and Kevin Seebeck (drums) — have built growing momentum through their debut EP Wisteria, the viral success of “mandy” and last year’s EP, Chrysalis. Before the full swallowtail EP was released, the band released a smaller EP in June with four singles: “close your eyes,” “empty house,” “paper thin” and “mettle.” Now, with the entirety of swallowtail out, she’s green push forward to expand their misty, emotionally rich world into something increasingly distinct and impossible to ignore.
There’s a delicacy to the weight of the emotions hummed out throughout the EP, as if a feather wading through ocean waves. The vocals, textures and instrumentals all flow seamlessly into one another, delivering not just melodies but an entire, detail-heavy landscape. Rather than decorating the songs, the production becomes another voice, cultivating a world so easy to get lost in that it becomes a dream you don’t want to wake up from. The imagery drawn from nature in their lyrics mirrors the emotional change that threads through every song, an element that perfectly aligns with who she’s green is as a band.
In the opening track, “locket,” the echoey floats of harmonies hover about the production while Smith sings, “You say what you like / Your mind oversimplified / it’s all bottled up inside / Afraid of what you desire.” The song captures the quiet devastation of trying every key you have to open up someone’s heart, only to discover none of them will fit. There’s a fragile, raw vulnerability swirling through “locket” — the simple desire to love someone who won’t allow themselves to let their walls down.
On “dear ivy,” the lyrics paint a picture of emotional suffocation: “The poison’s bending and winding / Stretching out like weeds / They’re choking on all their money tonight / Oh, honey, hold me.” Beneath the words lies a weary exhaustion, reaching for comfort and relief within someone amongst the chaos. There’s a yearning in Smith’s voice as the lightness of Seebeck’s drums flow alongside her, each note sounding as though it’s being pulled directly from her heart while remaining grounded in a pure softness.
The acoustic guitar of “empty house” becomes the soul of the song, uplifting the emotional weight of the storytelling in Smith’s voice. It provides an even deeper organic element that feels almost tangible, as if you can feel the wooden body under your palm and the metal strings beneath your fingertips. By stripping back many of the band’s signature shoegaze textures, she’s green allows the tenderness of the raw instrumentation to breathe. It’s a stunning, intuitive choice that mirrors the song’s exploration of change and impermanence — reflecting how transformation isn’t always on an obvious, grand scale, but can bloom in the subtleties within yourself and life.
“Longing for a place to be / Spinning through the air / Paging through / Versions of me”
The closing epic, “close your eyes,” drifts between dreams, memory and spirituality. “Heard you in a dream, we’re under the covers / You hold me, walking on the shore,” envelopes you with a mystical quality that hangs over the entire song. Inspired by Smith’s recurring dreams featuring the same mysterious person, “close your eyes” wraps you in the fuzzy sensation of waking up from a dream that felt too vivid to have existed only in your mind. As the cinematic rush of drums, waves of guitar reverb and airy belting arrive near the song’s finale, the lines between dreams and reality begin to blur. Rather than treating that disorienting feeling as unsettling, she’s green transforms it into something magical — opening you up to the enchanting possibility of past lives, alternate timelines or parallel universes where dreams become another version of your life.
The first time I listened to “close your eyes,” it didn’t even register that it was seven minutes long. I was so immersed in its musical journey that I was almost surprised when the final note landed. That’s perhaps one of she’s green’s greatest qualities, one that takes center stage on this EP. Every song invites complete immersion. With swallowtail, she’s green demonstrates that shoegaze doesn’t have to sacrifice emotional depth for atmosphere. Instead, the two become inseparable.
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