The Green Child

Led by former <a href="spotify:artist:5mUHvPTMAx9FxhO0z4KGS6">Grass Widow</a> guitarist/singer Raven Mahon and <a href="spotify:artist:5vjPLkDLdB76i8EO1PFOT6">Total Control</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Mikey Young</a>, the Green Child unites eerie electronics and experimental rock with passion and creativity. Their lush analog synths, deceptively calm vocals, and poetic songwriting -- as well as their love of classic sci-fi -- shaped 2018's atmosphere-soaked self-titled debut album. The Green Child's way with moods extended to their later albums, even as they shifted their focus to eclectic pop on 2020's Shimmering Basset and to expansive rock vistas on 2024's Look Familiar, their first album as a four-piece.

Mahon and <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a> met in 2013 when their bands played together and began making music the following year. Taking inspiration -- and the project's name -- from Herbert Read's 1935 utopian sci-fi novel The Green Child, the pair spent several years collaborating in <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a>'s studio and internationally (at the time, Mahon resided in San Francisco, while <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a> lived in Melbourne). <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:5vjPLkDLdB76i8EO1PFOT6">Total Control</a> bandmate Al Montfort contributed to the Green Child's self-titled debut, which appeared in January 2018 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Upset+the+Rhythm+Records%22">Upset the Rhythm Records</a> and won praise for its retro-futuristic approach. Following the album's release, Mahon moved to Australia. She and <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a> settled in a beachside house in Rye, a town south of Melbourne, and wrote and recorded in their basement studio.

The Green Child resurfaced in 2020 with July's "Rats on the Roof," a contribution to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chapter+Music%22">Chapter Music</a>'s Midnight Meditations compilation; September's "Geranium," which appeared on The Searchers & Hobbies Galore Compilation; and an October cover of <a href="spotify:artist:27a0GiCba9K9lnkKidroFU">Canned Heat</a>'s "Poor Moon," which was part of a lunar-themed singles series issued by Australia's RISING Festival. That year also saw the release of the Green Child's second album, Shimmering Basset. Alluding to influences as diverse as <a href="spotify:artist:5MYBNUKoFf9LAg30ByaBli">Andy Kim</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:72VzFto8DYvKHocaHYNWSi">Hot Chocolate</a>, it appeared on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Upset+the+Rhythm%22">Upset the Rhythm</a> in October 2020.

For their next album, the Green Child expanded their lineup, adding <a href="spotify:artist:4PIZE9cqMl4hJxoqhlD78v">Boomgates</a>' Shaun Gionis on drums and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hobbies+Galore%22">Hobbies Galore</a> label founder Alex MacFarlane on guitar and synths. The band took advantage of their more fleshed-out sound while writing their next album, with <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a> and Mahon both contributing song ideas based on family and friends and the world around them. November 2024's Look Familiar reflected their reenergized sound and viewpoint, with songs that ranged from pulsing synth pop to psych-rock jams. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi