Even the most basic artistic endeavor requires some measure of resiliency and resolve. Unbearable anxiety, fear and dread, the crushing weight of expectations—real or perceived, they all seem to worm their way into the process. Each one is a roadblock to be circumnavigated or overcome. On the other side of those barricades, however, lies release. Something akin to personal fulfillment, maybe even freedom or peace, if only for a few fleeting moments.
Recorded just prior to the pandemic, Your Text Here, the new EP from Chris Yonker (Karaoke, Omni), can be seen as a kind of pre-COVID time capsule. Writing under the nebulous moniker Greenscreen, Yonker started the project partly as a means of coping with the dissolution of beloved psych-rockers Hello Ocho. It was also around this time that Mammal Gallery, the local DIY arts institution that Yonker cofounded, was forced to close following a fatal fire in South Downtown. Devastated and unmoored, writing music became a vehicle for processing his grief and finding meaning in the chaos. The EP’s striking lead track, “Lemonade,” is a testament to the revelatory power of self-expression.
“‘Lemonade’ is about what you choose to do when life hands you lemons,” Yonker explains via email. “In hindsight, I had no idea I was writing words that I myself needed to hear just a couple of weeks later.”
Built on a slinky, serpentine groove, the track is a work of deep sentiment that remains emphatically danceable. It’s both playful and serious, a not-so-easy balance that too often falls prey to artifice. Not with Yonker and his superb backing band, though. Even the song’s most deliberate and meticulously constructed passages twitch with unrestrained fervor. “Lemonade” deftly executes all sorts of nimble bends and leaps, so much so that one of the primary joys of listening is trying to guess where things will head next.
That feeling of spontaneity is only amplified by the accompanying video, which brings the track’s sauntering restlessness to life in a flurry of abstract 3D graphics. It feels a bit overwhelming at first, but the longer you watch, the more it all comes together in a kind of mystifying unison. For Yonker, the process was as much about trusting your instincts as it was surrendering control.
“The video was made by Gabriel Paquet, a tattooer from Quebec City,” he says. “We met in Montreal and traded tattoos with each other. While we were tattooing each other we talked a lot about 3D rendering. A few months later I stumbled across some beautiful renderings Gabriel made and had to ask him to make a music video. I gave him complete creative control and this is what he made.”
Watch/listen above.
Greenscreen will perform on Fri., Apr. 15 at Aisle 5 in support of Guerilla Toss. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $15.
More Info
Bandcamp: greenscreenmusicband.bandcamp.com
Instagram: @__greenscreen__