New music from Milo Greene is always exciting, and the group has been actively building up to their next great release after 2015’s Control. The quartet released their latest EP Never Ender through Nettwerk Music Group in February, and it holds much the same energy of past releases: a dark and somber mood mixed with vibrant, ethereal elements. It’s has a certain rawness and honesty to the emotions it unleashes – fear, anger, frustration, confusion, forced acceptance – and reflects the tension felt across the nation (and world) over the past few months.
Beginning with “I Know about You,” the EP starts off with a mysterious air that’s hauntingly aware as the vocals spin a tale of betrayal that should have been expected. A background of tinkling keys and foreboding chants anchor the eerie broken-hearted story’s many threads -anger for not seeing the heartbreak coming, frustration with former partner and their lack of guilt, and the self-righteous clarity that typically acts as a precursor to closure. Perhaps in this case it isn’t just an ex-lover whose betrayal the band laments, but rather the state of the world and the fact that our neighbors and family members brought us here.
The EP flows seamlessly into “We Kept the Lights on,” which takes a stab at the concept of a finished relationship from the opposite perspective. It’s an homage to finding strength and individual power despite not being able to leave no matter how badly you may want to. It’s cyclical, both in the soft “ooh’s” peppered throughout the song and its overall message of someone leaving and coming back to the same person repeatedly.
The single “Afraid of Everything” is the thesis of the EP: it’s a nod toward fear in a serious relationship as well as the fear that permeates much of our daily existence in the current turbulent state of affairs. It recognizes that the passing of time is our saving grace, as it’s the only sure-fire cure for recovering from a broken heart. As many people use courage in the face of adversity to get through the next few years, the song also serves as reminder that there’s always something to focus on that doesn’t rattle you to the core, even if everything seems scary.
Never Ender encompasses the cycle of moods we all find ourselves juggling: anger and fear one day and self-confidence and strength the next. As such, Milo Greene provide a battle cry for those struggling to find stability.
