Album Review: Any Prior Self by State Forest

Any Prior Self is like a chapter book about getting over someone; each song presents itself as an intricate scene in a larger narrative.

A sense of restless solitude reaches each corner of State Forest’s new EP, Any Prior Self. The EP is stacked with tracks about a long train ride, broken heaters, and a conversation with someone you used to know a lot better. The music is not joyful or light, and it doesn’t try to romanticize the hurt that comes through in the lyrics. Greer’s soft vocal delivery and straightforward guitar riffs put everyday pain under a microscope, refusing to dance around it with heavy metaphors or overly complex instrumentals.  

Any Prior Self is the result of Ben Greer’s gradual return to solitude. After Greer released an EP in 2016 under the name State Forest, he formed an ambient rock band using the same name with two other musicians. The group created original songs and performed them live before disbanding. Greer reworked some of those songs into the tracks that make up Any Prior Self, a release he recorded in his apartment.

It makes sense that Greer cites Conor Oberst and Kevin Devine as influences—Any Prior Self shines when it comes to lyricism. Each verse and chorus is laced with specific details and woeful reminiscing delivered in a wistful tone. A blunt honesty reverberates through songs like “Ahead of My Time,” which offers up musings like “I miss your mattress pad.” Meanwhile, the unornamented drum loops and dark, heavy guitar chords act like a paperweight and ground Greer’s lightweight voice. Greer double tracks his vocals on “Need to Know” and begins “A Weekend” with delicate finger picking, adding a distinctive touch to each song on the EP.

Wide High Beams” is a standout-a song that tracks the narrator’s journey on a long train ride and it grounds the rest of the EP in a story about getting over an ex. A minimalist guitar loop backs Greer’s hushed vocals and he takes us into his point of view. He ruminates on the ghost of a past relationship while the train rattles on, occasionally drifting off but “not long enough to get coherent dreams.” Eventually, the guitar crashes into an intense, almost heavy-metal riff that, surprisingly, does nothing to drown out the vocals. Greer shifts vocal dynamics often throughout the song, making sure that the lyrics are always the primary focus.

Any Prior Self’s simplistic instrumentals and heart-wrenching lyrics are unique and intoxicating. Despite its dark tone and themes, the stark honesty of the album lyrics gives it a special warmth.