Slark Moan is the New York-based indie rock artist and alter ego of multi-instrumentalist Mark Sloan. Their music is a cocktail of angular indie-rock hooks, colorful chord progressions, and virtuosic jazz solos, bathing in a pool of guitar-forward psychedelia. Moan spent much of the last decade as a session guitarist in Nashville, Tennessee, collaborating with acclaimed Americana and indie acts, including Torres, Margo Price, Erin Rae, and SG Goodman. The dexterous guitar style that Moan developed during those early Nashville years seeps into their solo productions, complementing the melodic intuition of a veteran of the stage and recording studio.
Through a dense fog of fuzzy guitars and crashing cymbals, Moan crafts an emo-tinged rock ballad with “Green Grass.” Borrowing the tones of soft rock and mixing them with the emotional vulnerability of emo music, with a mix that blends everything together with a shoegaze twist. Moan’s approach to songwriting allows them to get personal truths off their chest, but their means of conveying these emotions employs vague poetry that leaves just enough room to put yourself in the artist’s shoes. While the lyrics of “Green Grass” detail an emotionally taxing journey of attempting to enjoy the present moment, the arrangement here shows just as much emotion.
“‘Green Grass’ is about missing out on life because you’re always looking at what’s next. It’s about being focused on a destination that you never arrive at,” explains Moan. “I started recording the song in Nashville during the pandemic and finished it after relocating to NYC. The song is largely inspired by my habit of living in my head, focusing on an imagined reality in the future that will somehow be better than my current existence. The song describes how we sometimes justify dissatisfaction with the explanation that we are working towards the other side where the grass is always greener. I think, like many people, I emerged from the pandemic feeling like I lost so much time. Not only from putting my career on pause or having to rebuild a life in a new city but from spending so many years ignoring the life around me, longing for a future that doesn’t exist instead of recognizing the beauty of the present moment.”
