Minneapolis bright young shoegazers She’s Green haven’t been shy about dropping new music whenever they want, but for those of us who still mark time via properly titled and indexed collections, today marks the release of their second EP Chrysalis, following up 2023’s Wisteria. And to kind of answer the question asked in today’s Instagram about when the release might be available to buy, for the CD at least it looks like October 17?
Chrysalis (in streaming form) is accompanied by a new video for “Little Birds”, which makes four videos for five songs from the release, but rather than share that like I’ve done for all the predecessors, I’ll just inform you that it exists – which I just did – and instead offer up this live set recorded in their hometown back in January, opening for Frank Black at the legendary First Avenue as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations for Minneapolis Public Radio’s The Current.
It’s a great-sounding, multi-camera, six-song half-hour set that includes songs that were new and untitled at the time; the second turned out to be “Willow”, which features on the new EP, but the set opener remains untitled and unreleased as far as I know.
They talked to The Current ahead of the show about their big plans for this year, which so far have worked out pretty well:
she’s green talk about upcoming First Avenue show and their 2025 North American tour @ The Current
They also just did a quick, hi-who-are-you introductory interview for The Fader:
She’s Green will crush your shoegaze heart, softly @ The Fader
And singer Zofia Smith gave a more in-depth interview to Noir, getting into some of the creative process that went into the new recordings:
KP: To move onto your newer work, your forthcoming EP, Chrysalis, drops on August 15, which will be your first body of work in over two years. Congratulations! What can you share about this new chapter? What part of its writing or recording brought you the most joy or revelation?
ZS: Thank you! A lot has happened since we last released a project, and I couldn’t be more excited to show off what we’ve been cooking up. Raines was added to the band after we released Wisteria, and since then we’ve done a ton of shows while writing and finishing school. We’re all now finally able to commit all that we’ve got to this and have since been writing and touring a ton. One of the highlights of writing these songs was staying in an Airbnb in the woods in northern Wisconsin. We wanted an escape to write, and that’s how the song “Little Birds” came together. We cooked up some yummy food, had silly jams, and went on some truly breathtaking hikes.
KP: You’ve said that “Willow” reflects on “our dying relationship with the natural world — a relationship that’s not always loving, but formative nonetheless.” What drew you to explore this tension? Is it more of a personal reflection, or do you feel there’s a political dimension to it as well?
ZS: The personal and political tension has been a bit inescapable for me. I love going outside and sitting with nature, but knowing that it is being mistreated — and will continue to be mistreated — hurts. We are all being impacted by it on a physical level, and spiritually it’s impacting us all much more than we know. It often feels like we’re losing touch with ourselves, and it’s not even up to us.
Zofia Smith on Shoegaze, she’s green, and Staying Fiercely DIY @ Noir
