Richard Green's Quiet Rebellion
While Richard Green writes songs, he also creates a series of elements that build pathways for the listener. “Just Different” was released quietly at the end of 2022, and in hindsight now feel like a door opening into A Journey, which is the first chapter of a trilogy of projects that will all eventually take on their full form and character in years to come. The song itself was never early. It took its time.
Richard Green is a Milan-born guitarist/composer based in London for the last 11 years, and as such has an innate understanding of displacement at the molecular level. You can hear this in the sole opening chord, which is filled with piano notes that float aimlessly through the air around them, the sound of strings touching nothingness, and the idea of standing still in the middle of a busy street while everything around you moves past you. The memories contain the very weak smell of beer on the floor. There is also a hint of ash accumulations. It is a distilled version of adolescence.
“Just Different” resides in a very fragile, in-between state of emotions and experiences where someone is young enough to feel naked or exposed but, at the same time, is wise enough to notice it as a reality. The title alone means a lot, as “just different" is framed as a virtue or an insignificant casual social statement rather than as a flaw. The composition reflects this sense of wisdom. There are elements of classical structure that provide the bones of the piece, and also a large amount of blues and jazz elements that seep through the cracks and bend or stretch the harmony and give it a more human form. It has a lot of control at the beginning but, by the end of the song, is clearly very much human.
The narrators inspire a higher level of storytelling. Irene Veneziano's music does not simply entertain; it reveals her soul. The Archimia Strings Quartet enhances weight without sentimentality and introduces tension without overwhelming intensity. The recording was made at Studio Elfo in Piacenza but was created in Green's studio in London. The process of creating this piece was the most challenging of all because it was the most technically demanding piece on this EP, yet this technical difficulty translates into Green's performance as confidence instead of fatigue.
When it comes to the sounds he creates and the images he uses, Green places himself beyond what the general public would typically classify his works. Whether by design or by accident, this has been Green's approach to creating art. Due to the widespread trend of using so many labels in today's marketplace, being able to create something that has many different genres is how you stand out in this oversaturated market. A Journey, The Circle Closes, and First Light are the culmination of this artistic direction, but "Just Different" is still the heart of those three records.
This record is not just another attempt to follow the trends of today's music world; it is a great work that could be revisited time and again throughout the years and remains relevant, as if it knows you.