REVIEW: Skyler Acord's "True Viridian"
Skyler Acord feels like one of the most successful artists to come out of his scene. From his time with Issues, the now part time latter-Warped era band to the present, being the live bass player for mainstream rock outfit Twenty One Pilots. Acord has already proven over the years that he can write a song, he wrote a lot of Issues music including their latest, Beautiful Oblivion, which many already consider to be a classic. Now he’s taken on solo music as well. Singles off True Viridian started dropping last year and his ability as a musician has grown and shifted even between the songs on this tracklist.
For me, who's been listening to Acord written tracks since high school, the biggest take away from this record is how good a singer he is. Right from the beginning with “knew it all along,” the way he opens with a smooth delivery and turns it into a soar on the hook makes him one of my picks for best vocal performances this year. It’s important to keep in mind however that he does still have that ability and he’s only gotten better. “knew it all along” is a great demonstration of this. All those influences he was working with during his time with Issues are now met with an element of synthpop and classic rock that give him his own unique blend of sonics.
That and, as I said earlier, his growth is apparent on this record. The recordings of “knew it” and second track “made of” were finished quite a ways apart and you can tell by listening to Skyler’s voice. He’s less afraid to use that inner volume, in fact he lets it out from the first notes of the track. The performance on “star junction” dedicated to the late Diego Farias of Volumes, hurts as Skyler laces this track with personal experiences and things that are hard to relate to unless you’re the one who lived them. Not just lyrically, the pain in his voice, the space-like instrumental bigger than the man behind it. It all demonstrates his pain.
EP outro “decay” proves that Acord still has Issues in him. It’s final moments tailor made to be played with a backing band and it allows him to shine vocally, a true highlight not just of this record but of his catalog. If you’ve ever liked any of Skyler Acord’s work this EP will have something for you. If you haven’t, this is a great place to start.
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