Under Review

Highland Eyeway

Royal Green

Self-Released; 15/10/2016

Highland Eyeway blends the perfect ratio of drone, noise, and psychedelia into an impressive EP, where each track complements the others without repetition. Moments of massive energy coexist with more relaxed rhythm sections containing spacey guitar effects that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tame Impala song.

Royal Green begins with a drone heavy intro in a two-part song titled “Geostone.” Arising from the guitar’s growl we hear what sounds like the inner thoughts of lead vocalist Houston Matson-Moore: “Discover each other / Do you love your mother?” Part two transitions from the drone at exactly the right time to keep the listener engaged. It becomes a gentle melody, filled with rhythmic strumming and a trippy reverberated guitar that slowly grows in volume, ending in a fast paced drum driven outro, finally crashing to an explosive close.

The end of “Geostone” is a gradual renewal. A slow strum meets drums, sending this song into a full noise jam session. “Fryin’” is the song you want to listen to while swerving between cars on a freeway. “Rock Paper Scissors” features the same kind of heavy rhythm jamming. It’s a beautiful track that will have you headbanging.

The psychedelia of this album comes at the end. “Pathways” contains some of my favourite lyrics, evoking an incredible feeling of renewal through lessons learned. The line “I taste a little bit of sorrow in your spit / Makes me wonder what you’re trying to / Get out of me” seems to be referring to the singer looking back at a broken relationship, and considering what their true intentions had been.

Royal Green concludes with an instrumental track, featuring an impressive outro of noise. Throughout this EP, Highland Eyeway successfully melds three different styles into five cohesive songs. Together, they take the listener on a path of introspection.