A Gothic Romance: A Story Of Haunting Relationships In Phoebe Green’s ‘What Are You Doing’

Alternative-pop rising artist Phoebe Green is reaching out of the UK across the galaxy with a strong, darkly sci-fi-esque single, 'What Are You Doing'. 

From the visualiser on Spotify to the single cover art to the sound of the track itself - it all can be best described as an 80's gothic dark fantasy frenzy trapped in a modern age. 

Green does a stunning job allowing her voice, instrumentation, and lyrics to orchestrate a haunting story of mourning a battle and coming to terms with being pulled inside out by a relationship. It's a poetically alternative approach to detailing the experience of a toxic relationship that one goes around in a cycle of being a victim, a martyr, the antagoniser, and the foolish addict. "I think you miss me / I think I terrify you / Will you forgive me / For everything I dragged you through"  exemplifies the sides of the story Green is telling. One of the stories, perhaps, is a conversation between themself for being in the situation in the first place. A story of being the one saying "I miss you" to the toxic individual, starting the cycle again, and another of perhaps realising the ability to be the toxic one to someone.

Opening and continuing throughout are synths that build up the piece's texture, making it feel like an outer space sci-fi moment, especially at the beginning of the song with the layers of synths such as gravelly earthy bass tones and warped vocals. Adding staccato harmonies, synth piano harmonies, and sparkling upper tones in the chorus make for a peculiar listening experience that does not feel or sound like 21st-century pop. It transports you back to the 80s or would make a perfect addition to a 'Stranger Things' soundtrack-based instrumentation alone.  A bit like if Kate Bush and David Bowie had a collaborative effort - this would be the outcome. 

However, this single stands out because the vocals are the final aspect that takes the release above and beyond. Their vocals in verses have minimal effect on them. They are exposed in every way, which is a stark difference in the pre-chorus and chorus, where Green's vocals are stacked and edited to have this gritty, filtered, vocal fry sound adjacent to a megaphone or old microphone effect.

The production of the vocal aspects alone creates emotional differences in how to interpret the different components of the song. The exposed, raw, honest emotions are non-filtered, as heard in the lines, "Do you watch me from a distance? (Think I can feel you there) / Disguising caution with indifference". Where the filtered chorus is more bitter and sour, "I thought you were gentle, but you turned me inside out". 

In the end, all of it returns to the title of the track. The confused, aghast-filled rhetorical question "what are you doing" that Green is desperately and in vain trying to get an answer to.

Green is known for its approach to creating "raw pop," formulated by reaching into itself and pulling out narratives about being forever evolving, using its music as a mirror to reflect every fragment. Stay tuned for more of Phoebe Green. This piece is the first single from the upcoming EP, 'The Container,' which will be out in March. Let's all eagerly await the release together. 

Tyra Baker

@got_tyra

Image: Sara Carpentieri

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