11. Single Review of Shades of Green by Changeling

Originally published July 11th, 2024

About the Artist

Changelingare a rock band from Indianapolis, Indiana. They formed in July of 2022, with their debut recording, “Keep it Coming,” releasing in 2023. They are vocalist, Zachary Smith, lead guitar, David Minton, Cameron Bender on the bass, and Andrew Dawson on the drums. Changeling hope to gain traction with their fan base by steadily releasing a few singles with hopes of releasing an album in the future.

If you would like the opportunity to check Changeling out live, you can see them November 1st, at The Healer in Indianapolis!

Shades of Green

“Shades of Green” is a single released on July 5th and runs at Two minutes, Thirty-two seconds. It is a mid to upbeat tempo, with quieter verses leading to building choruses.

“Shades of Green” features instrumental performances on guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The lyrics were written and performed by Zachary Smith.

About the Music

Though Changeling are much more of a traditional rock band, “Shades of Green” is very exciting because they remind me a lot of what Cage the Elephant were doing when they first came onto the scene in the late 2010’s. Smith’s vocal performance is superb; he has an incredible and diverse vocal range. 

The beginning of the song is quiet; with short, rhythmic notes being played by the guitar and Smith almost speaking the lyrics. Then the verse begins to build with both Smith opening up vocally and Andrew Dawson opening up to let us hear a little bit more of the drum kit. This crescendos into the chorus where David Minton transitions from a staccato into a powerful rhiff that fills the song with sound and Smith erupts into a powerful melodic vocal part saturated with delay and a complimentary touch of reverb.

The second verse, Cameron Bender takes over the instrumental melody on bass while Minton takes to a higher, harmonic position. Smiths vocals are eerily more involved in the second verse. Following the second chorus, there is a bridge that follows the same progression as the chorus but with a more rhythmic vocal part. Smiths voice is different, but he has moments where he can be vocally comparable to Anthony Kiedis, of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Honestly, Smith is probably a bit better than Kiedis, as far as vocal control and his higher range is a bit more pure; not to take away from Kiedis, who has proven himself and is one of the best at what he does.

“Shades of Green,” closes with one final rendition of its energetic, loud chorus, then comes to an organic ending with production choosing to leave in the sounds of the guitar player removing their last position of the song. 

Final Thoughts

I love this song. Like, truly love this song. In the last 3 days, I’ve probably listened to it more than 50 times. This band are entirely in control of their sound. They don’t try to trick you gimmicks. The dynamics, the effects, are all controlled by the musicians themselves. Vocally, the Smith gives a quality performance using nothing but a little bit of reverb and delay, and the performance is absolutely stunning. I have no doubt that, if Changeling continue to produce music of this quality, they will have no trouble growing their fan base exponentially. They’ve added one to the list today. 

“Shades of Green” can be heard on all streaming platforms including Spotify, AppleMusic, and YouTube, and you can see Changeling’s debut music video for “Shades of Green” on YouTube now!