REVIEW: Greye — Everything (SINGLE)
Greye’s “Everything” is a re-envisioning of a song first written and recorded for the band’s 2016 album The Worrier. The song never achieved a high profile in the band’s live set, didn’t chart high like many later Greye tracks, but it never quite faded away. Greye recently went back to the song, collectively curious about its newfound relevance after almost two years of pandemic, and discovered they shared a deeper connection with the song than they previously believed. The song’s newfound personal and social relevance in their eyes inspired them to revamp the track for a much different audience than first greeted its arrival.
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Greye first made their presence felt in the indie music world in 2014 and has released a steady stream of original material since then. There’s no drop off in quality running through their catalog; their prolific pace is underpinned by fierce and undimmed creativity. Guitarist Jett Wolfe wrote “Everything” and his influence on the new version of the song remains as defining as ever. The mix of different guitars and their gradual escalation from the acoustic opening into full fledged rock is one of the song’s strongest suits.
There’s countless examples scattered through the song showing why Greye’s popularity continues growing by leaps and bounds. “Everything” has an evocative near-filmic flavor and achieves a sparkling pop grandeur that never lands heavy-handed. Much of the reason why is thanks to lead singer Hannah Summer. She has elevated her performances on one album after another and is far removed from the much more hesitant singer heard on earlier Greye releases. It isn’t just about this one song either, it’s a sign of her growing overall powers and confidence.
Bass player Lorenzo Rizzardi and drummer Ray Grimard keep Greye’s engine room churning at full speed. The measured, even deliberate, pace of the song allows drums and bass to play as deep in the pocket as they like and extemporize when and wherever necessary. Their tasteful approach to rhythm section accompaniment immeasurably improves an already great track and the relatively recent pairing of these two musicians under Greye’s auspices will prove pivotal for the band in coming years.
They write songs in a way that maintains higher than average intelligence for the form while still remaining wide open for listeners. There’s nothing self-consciously highbrow about Greye’s songwriting. They’ve advanced far past their lighter earlier albums, but those aren’t lesser efforts, per se. Consider them as promising but unrefined evidence of greater things to come. Those days have arrived. Their latest release So Far So Good has already spawned a small torrent of hit singles and “Everything” is destined to join its ranks.
It’s easy these days to lose hope in popular music. The days when one band could hit and change everything, lodge their songs in everyone’s head, are passed. It’s a reflection of the times instead of the talent pool. Greye, however, has the sort of transformative sound and talent you look for in young bands and they show no signs of slowing down.
Colin Jordan
