Holly Miranda - Forest Green Oh Forest Green

When we first heard of The Jealous Girlfriends, we’ll admit that we were initially in it for the name. It didn’t take many bars of lead singer Holly Miranda’s vocals to keep us hooked, however, and thus began our intense, unrequited love. We’re ashamed to say that she slipped off our radar for a brief period but her charming debut solo release, ‘Forest Green Oh Forest Green’, has re-sparked our glowing embers. We want to be her jealous girlfriend.

The title track, ‘Forest Green Oh Forest Green’, opens the two song offering with rhythmic girl-boy harmonies, leading into ethereal ooing and aahing, punctuated throughout with jingly bells and a brass melody. It is perhaps this combination that makes ‘Forest Green Oh Forest Green’ seem like a timely release; bells and brass alluding to Christmas Eve around the fire. Some might call it seasonal but subtle, with no lyrics about chestnuts and Santa, which is how we like it. The song fades out with a mystical, underwater effect, confirming Holly Miranda’s status as a unique artist in a decade of oft ‘samey’ output.

The second track, ‘Nobody Sees Me Like You Do’, has a more downbeat vibe, with a poignant bass line, drums throughout and emotionally charged lyrics. Despite this darker musical accompaniment, however, Holly’s voice shines through the clouds to lend the song a mellow, relaxed feel. Of the two, ‘Nobody Sees Me…’ is slightly more akin to her work in The Jealous Girlfriends, perhaps as a folksy take on their pop-rock sound.

Yes, Holly Miranda is pretty hard to categorise. And we get the feeling she likes it that way.