03.02.15
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On the title track of her new album I Want to Grow Up, Colleen Green presents a woman frustrated by coming-of-age difficulties, the transition from young adult to Real Life. It’s an alarming loss of blissful ignorance that can lead to many rash, regrettable decisions. Fortunately, Colleen Green has been able to channel these anxieties into something at once amusing and relatable.

Released by Sub Pop’s baby Hardly Art Records, I Want to Grow Up sees the California-based artist continue to pay homage to her adolescent inspirations. While Green’s approach remains youthful (in the past she’s cited The Ramones, The Descendants and early Blink-182 as influences), the album sees her mature musically, this time trading her drum machine-powered, trashy DIY set up for additional musicians before going into the studio. The album’s lyrics, fans will be pleased to know, still have have that street-smart, slacker edge alongside personal growth. “It’s an insight into my life goals,” Green explains. “I just want to be the best person I can be. My lyrics are a reflection of what’s going on in my brain during a given time in my life, and this is what I’ve been thinking about the past couple of years.”

Green recently declared that none of the songs on I Want to Grow Up are love songs. On first listen, the song Some People might initially sound like just another song about a woman losing out on a man, straight from the Taylor Swift school of pop hits. But when pressed on the meaning of the melancholy tune, Green reveals that “Some People is about being out of love, feeling unlucky in love, and wondering why some people seem to be able to find love and happiness so quickly and easily while I’m still alone and sad”. Green’s confidence and ability to address the isolation we all feel at one point or another is another example of what makes her such a universally appealing lyricist.

The one time bearer of the ‘Stoner Girl of Spring’ title (awarded by stonergirlsguide.com in 2013) also has other creative skills outside of music that help her create the world of Colleen Green. In line with her DIY aesthetic, Green is known for making zines under the Real Shit Daily tag, including an upcoming Celebrity Encounters edition which documents tales of inadvertent star spotting around LA complete with haikus and drawings, all presented with a deadpan manner grin and just enough childlike wonder.

Green has created a refreshingly alternative realistic image of a girl in the industry to aspire and relate to. However, when we ask about her experiences as a female in music, she only has good things to say. “I love being a woman and being free to do anything that I want in this life,” she responds. It’s just that care-free confidence that made us fans of Colleen Green in the first place.

I Want To Grow Up is out now via Sub Pop / Hardly Art