NATIVE TONGUE – Single Review: “Dark Green Eyes”

Now I turn my attention back to England to shine a spotlight on Native Tongue, an alt-rock band from Bournemouth. Fronted by the prolific singer-songwriter and producer Nathan Evans on lead vocals and guitar, Native Tongue also includes Arron Bennett on drums and Jake Waters on bass. Nathan also writes and records music as a solo artist under the moniker NAVE, and this past February he released his monumental 31-track album God’s Waiting Room (which I reviewed.)

Native Tongue’s sound is darkly beautiful, edgy and melodic, with thought-provoking lyrics delivered by Nathan’s captivating tenor vocals. They began dropping singles in early 2022, which culminated in the release of their debut five-track EP Hiding In White Light. That September, they released a beautiful short film with the same title which they wrote and directed. Hiding In White Light features four of the tracks from the EP, and tells a dark story of mental illness, hallucinations, loneliness and depression. The film is available for viewing on YouTube.

Now they’re back with a powerful new single “Dark Green Eyes“, accompanied by an unusual video that would make David Lynch proud. The song is the first single from their forthcoming second EP Sodium. When Nathan first sent me the song and video, I was immediately blown away by the song’s complex and jarring music that starts off with a melancholy acoustic guitar, then evolves into an explosive maelstrom of grungy and screaming riffs, smashing drums and crushing bass. There’s beauty to be found too, particularly in the melodic gnarly guitar solo in the bridge. Nathan’s vocals also start off with his signature plaintive tenor croon, but turn emotionally-wrenching and raw with the music, until he’s literally frightening us with his impassioned wails, leaving us drained by song’s end.

Nathan told me he originally intended for “Dark Green Eyes” to be a Nave song, but decided to turn it into a full band song with live drums and bass to creating a more powerful dynamic. About the song’s meaning, he explains: “I wanted to create a character that seems so desperate to be in the spotlight and wants to know what it feels like to be adored. I love the line ‘I wanna know what it feels like to be yours’ because it twists it as you expect it to say ‘I wanna know what its like to be you’. To me, this implies the character doesn’t even feel worthy enough to imagine himself as this successful person and instead he wants to know what it would be like in their shadow. It is tragic to see someone wishing they were anything but themselves and needing validation from others to make them feel good. He is a victim of society who is encouraged to compete and compare himself with others constantly.”

Both song and video are simple yet profound, beautiful yet disturbing. In the video, Nathan portrays a man performing the song on stage, baring both himself and his soul in front of everyone in a raw, unflinching manner.