NEW RELEASE - ST. EMERALD ‘FAMILIAR STATE’
St. Emerald’s new release ‘Familiar State’ is a great indie rock track and an exciting introduction to their upcoming EP Semantics.
A track about being lost, alone and “far from feeling fine,” ‘Familiar State’ blends sounds of Aussie rock bands Verge Collection with their loud domineering guitars and Vampire Weekend’s indie folk/rock acoustics. When you put these inspirations with a vocal performance that emotes the tone of this song wonderfully, you have ‘Familiar State’.
The structure of this song is reminiscent of the aforementioned indie bands with an acoustic opening that caresses the listener to the opening bass kick. The track then enters a middle section that describes this “all familiar state,” with a quite uplifting instrumental section that doesn’t reflect the lyrical material in the best way, helping deliver this melancholic indie rock feel.
This upbeat section is carried by guitar fillers and percussion that belongs on a road trip soundtrack, adding this anthem like style to the song. This then suddenly stops as the song returns to its beginnings with an acoustic riff and an occasional flare from the guitar that allows the lead vocals to really change up the chorus with some oomph as he belts out, “say there’s nothing wrong,” finishing the song with great bravado. Although at times seeming a bit formulaic, this song delivers instrumentally and structurally enough for it to be a memorable introduction to a new era for this band, a definite step up from their previous releases.
Lyrically this song is at odds with the instrumentation of the song in a good way. Especially towards the end the lead vocals really execute on the emotion of, “wanting more,” almost asking the song to keep going so he can fully tell this story with strength. This is evident during the tempo changes that are occurring throughout the song as the lyrics and vocals are at one and executed brilliantly on this track, never being overshadowed by the instrumentation.
A staple indie rock song from St. Emerald that is a great sign for the upcoming EP.