Music
Stumble
A traditional ballad, with a little bit of the signature Indigo Mane flair. It’s a ballad about love and loss, and Indigo takes his time sharing the pain of a slowly crumbling relationship. He pours soul into every lyric, floating over the lush, dreamy instrumental for 5 whole minutes.
The song deviates from the traditional ballad in it’s melody and soundscape. To emphasize the dark undertones and hints of conflict bubbling under the surface of the song, the chords are bittersweet, jazzy, and dissonant. On top of this, the music drips with reverb, and employs warm, saturated synths that envelope the listener in a dark soundscape. A spacey, cold vocal sample is on repeat throughout most of the track, contributing to a chilling sense of space.
wish i were here
Wish I Were Here is the debut EP of Indigo Mane. There is no filler, and the 6 tracks fill up a tight 22 minute run time. The production is less ambitious then some of his more recent work, and most of the music stays in the realm of indie rock and singer-songwriter. There are some true must-hear moments on this project.
Here In My Arm is an early display of the vivid lyrics and melancholic subject matter that are characteristic of Indigo Mane’s work, and also features some exceptional Lynyrd Skynyrd influenced guitar work. The trend of exceptional guitar work continues onto the next track Sway. Here, the guitar solo steals the show, and is an early high water mark for Indigo’s musicianship.
The next song, Two, features some of the most sophisticated melodic structure on the project. For the first moment in his career as a song-writer, Indigo’s love of jazz chords shines through. He continues to affirm his skill as a writer on the last leg of the project. On the first verse of Where Are You Now he paints his most visual story to date. The song sound like a lone cabin on a grassy plane looks when the sun is setting. Within the song he details, with more venomous anger than anywhere else on the project, the disintegration of a relationship. Finally, on the final song, Wake, Indigo takes the music to a new level of vulnerable intimacy. The instrumentation is stripped down to a single, sweetly resonant guitar, and he almost whispers lyrics about isolation and alienation.
Closure
The very first single from Indigo Mane. Closure reflects a mix of indie-rock and pop-rock Sweet melodies over a bright, guitar-based instrumental. This was also his first music video.