Rafael Green stopped by Live & Local this week, following the release of his new EP “Solace.”
Back fully in the Triangle after a brief stint in Nashville, Rafael Green has been a significant figure in the local music scene for many years – but “Solace,” recorded mostly in his own home, is his first EP release since before the pandemic.
“This was originally intended to be a full-length album,” he says of the project. “I started recording like two years ago, and it was going to be this nine- or ten-track project. But I found that a few tracks really emerged as the ones that I felt the most connection to, the ones that I wanted to share the most. So I really ended up focusing in on those – (and) I ended up being really happy with this.”
What ultimately emerged is a tight and powerful five-track EP, with complex melodies and lyrics that filter Green’s own psyche through the lens of science fiction and fantasy, resulting in an intimate yet complex sound that’s been described (not inaccurately) as a marriage of Iron & Wine and Tool.
Listen to “Solace” and purchase it on Bandcamp.
“I tend to write lyrics that are not super concrete,” he says. “They’re like magical realist stories, and they’re a little twisty and they’re intended to be dreamlike, but they’re still personal.”
Rafael Green grew up in a classical music-loving family, and it was only later in life that he got introduced to modern music – eventually falling in love with artists like Nick Drake, Radiohead, and Elliott Smith, who brought the complexity of classical music into the realm of folk and rock. It’s that sensibility that informs his own writing, with inventive melodies and time signatures that ultimately resolve into a dreamlike vibe that’s challenging and provocative and relatable and accessible all at once.
“I think that’s how I’ve managed to retain musicians in my bands – it’s so fun for them to play,” he says of his collaborators, which include Slow Teeth’s Justin Ellis, Gio Mesto’s Will Kitchin, and a Nashville-based string quartet called Fox Den Strings. “Sometimes I wonder, ‘how do I get these incredibly talented people to play with me?’ And I think the secret is that I give them fun, challenging parts to play.”
Follow Rafael Green on Instagram.
Rafael Green stopped by Live & Local to discuss the new EP and play three songs: “Tidal Pool” and “Food For Worms” off the EP, plus a live performance of “Give Yourself A Break.” Listen:
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