More about: Green Gardens

In the latest offering from the ever-prosperous Leeds DIY scene comes Green Gardens’ debut album This Is Not Your Fault. The art-rock four-piece are no stranger to the circuit, with members found also playing with local heroes and friends Far Caspian, Sunflower Thieves, Carpet and more. Produced by local-turned-national heavyweights Jamie Lockhart (The Cribs, Mush) and Rob Slater (Yard Act, Crake), the band’s first album couldn’t have been placed in more trusted hands.

What’s more, it comes as one of the first releases from the partnership between Come Play With Me and newly established EMI North, shifting the gaze rightfully away from the capital and to the thriving scenes of the North. A city’s legacy often overlooked in favour of nostalgia-pilled neighbours Manchester and Liverpool, this ethical recentring asks - where better than Leeds? And who better than Green Gardens?

"Green Gardens embrace raw sincerity to gently offer us more."

Self-described ‘feudal soft-rock’, the album itself is a homage to the art of storytelling in its purest tradition, creating whole narratives through sound and lyrics. Green Gardens combine thoughtful art-rock with a refreshing take on pastoral mythology and fable; everything from the gothic script to their deep, lush sound becomes otherworldly. We are taken to somewhere just beyond our reach and granted space for unlocatable feelings. Aesthetically and sonically, the band plays with a new, mystical nostalgia. An aesthetic so far removed from sparse, modern cynicism and a stark departure from the indie-rock caricatures that accompany it - it feels evergreen. No clean lines or sounds, completely free from the constraints of irony, Green Gardens embrace raw sincerity to gently offer us more.

This Is Not Your Fault is a return to the near-forgotten art of the concept album. Frontman Jacob Cracknelll describes it as ‘growing around its blame milestones’ that flow through a community, with esoteric mythology at its core. This state of transition is pivotal to the album’s success. It maps a journey from blame and grief, right through to reckoning and redemption. It borders on notions of religion in an unforgiving, Godless world. 

Lead single and opening track ‘This Is My Fault’ engulfs us in a heavy fog. It forms part of a meandering soundscape so all-consuming it feels cosy, rather than unsettling. No feeling, however painful, is rejected; we’re encouraged to submit to our own sticky malaise. Declarations of "I am death / I am infected  / Oh death, death, death" are steeped in a comforting sorrow that’s easy to get attached to. For a moment, it feels good to indulge in the pain. It’s like poking a familiar bruise.

Skipping across to the end of the album, we reach a moment of conclusion in ‘This Is Not Your Fault’. The mirroring of the titular tracks is a testament to the album’s metamorphic progression, providing a satisfying sense of completion in spite of all the dread that came before. The song is affirming and expansive as it swells beyond the five minute mark. Each instrument comes in sparse and, at points, skittish, yet somehow all cross paths with grace. It’s a real reckoning with the guilt of its sister track, reaching a hazy self-acceptance as it transcends itself in the final minute. Cries of "I lost it all" are coupled with a hesitant resurgence. A new life, born from the bittersweet renewal that follows change. 

The album orbits a constantly intermingling sense of self and style. All that’s in between is a carefully sculpted journey through the complexities of emotion. Reminiscent of early noughties cult-heroes like Grandaddy and Broken Social Scene, there’s a formulaic refusal throughout the record. Whilst the soft sadness of ‘Things I Didn’t Do’ feels somewhat indebted to tracks like American Football’s ‘Never Meant’, Green Gardens look at the overplayed early math-rock toolkit with fresh eyes. Across the board, their influences are deep and sprawling but never stale, taking notes from impressive legacies without feeling too rehashed or banal.

In ‘Akin To Sap’, the band’s desire for fables comes into its own. It’s the beginning of a turning point in the album’s narrative arc that centres itself on nature, community and grief. It is also, perhaps, our first glimmer of hope through the pain: "This village funeral is safe but at what cost / My faith is waning but thicker than my blood". It’s slow and gentle, hollowed out by cosy melancholy. At its midpoint, we’re pulled out of the shadows by a polished, dancing guitar line and choral vocals. The project begins to escape its own violent clutches to demonstrate its true manifesto: without an acceptance of dark, there can be no light. 

"Green Gardens’ unique and thoughtful debut is a celebration of feeling, in all its knotty, ugly forms."

The rest of the tracks follow a similar trajectory. ‘Oslow’, ‘Homeshredder’ and latest single ‘Bellyful’ each tell stories from new perspectives which Cracknell himself describes as forming ‘a crowd of characters all arguing and occupying the place that the album creates’. It’s this very world-building that really puts Green Gardens in a league above their peers, striking the balance between the fictitious and the real. Their neatly plucked melodies and hazy vocals ooze effortless warmth whilst they guide you through the gloom. 

This Is Not Your Fault feels like it has come at the perfect time. It’s a twinkling ode to late summer and the morose that often accompanies it. The circular narrative structure of the album and the delicate patience of their tracks express a willingness to reflect and change, to love and hurt, to move forward with tenderness and, ultimately, mercy. Green Gardens’ unique and thoughtful debut is a celebration of feeling, in all its knotty, ugly forms. The collaborative, community spirit that falls at the beating heart of West Yorkshire’s DIY culture is woven deep into the fabric of the band, making this record a celebration of what’s come before, and an exciting taste of what’s to come.

Get to know Green Gardens in their Hello Tomorrow interview

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More about: Green Gardens