Guardin Wrote an Acoustic EP in a Treehouse
guardin has carved out a special lane for himself in the alternative scene. Instant classics like “i think you're really cool”, “solitary”, and “demons in my orbit” have amassed a cult following around the 24 year old artist out of Hornell, NY.
These days it seems like the underground alt music scene finds a new sound to follow every year, however, guardin has created his own space that withstands the coming and going of fleeting trends in music. The sound he’s cultivated has developed tremendously since he first started releasing songs on Soundcloud in 2014. Guardin’s unique brand of indie music delivers uncompromisingly honest lyricism in the form of catchy melodies and often minimal arrangement that comes across in a way that isn’t meant to blow you away with production value, but instead make you feel something on a deep level.
“things could be worse” is a roughly 10-minute-long observation of the anxiety, fear, and feelings of entrapment that feel increasingly shared within our generation, but are never comfortable or easy to talk about openly. The ep as a whole conveys both lyrically and sonically the perceived isolation and futility that I’ve personally felt in my own struggles with anxiety.
I believe the mission of any artist is to capture a particular feeling using their medium and offer it to the world to be sat with, reflected upon, experienced more deeply in our attempts to understand ourselves better. Guardin really accomplished that for me with this project. Though the title of the ep is optimistic, the artist doesn’t attempt to offer any naive answer or happy ending for the listener, he merely paints a vivid picture of what he’s feeling as he’s struggling with his own anxieties and, honestly, that’s perfect. It’s enough to know that someone out there is experiencing what you’re experiencing, especially when it’s something that can trick you into believing you’re at odds with reality.
Artwork created by @tenebris_feles
In the weeks leading up to the release, Guardin teased the album artwork on his instagram, at times a serene looking treehouse nestled in the woods; alternatively, the same tree house ablaze as a silhouetted figure books it away. A week after the release, he released this video on his YouTube channel explaining some of the meaning behind the project and the treehouse illustrations. It’s a pretty rare opportunity to hear an artist describe firsthand their experience and process of creating:
Stream “things could have been worse” at one of the links below and let us know your thoughts/favorite track in the comments.
