Yet Another Green World: Five "Green" Albums
Duval Timothy, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Sofie Birch and the color of life
Everywhere I look, I see green. It’s one of the best parts of living in the Pacific Northwest. Whenever I fly back from a trip, I feel a sense of relief as I spot the sprawling stretches of evergreen trees below me. There’s the murky green tint of Puget Sound and the green oases of parks scattered throughout my city—everything is green.
One funny thing about having a young kid is how they make you stop and consider your favorite color. At least, mine does. I’m asked so often about it—“What’s your favorite color?” “Is green your favorite color?” “Look, Daddy, it’s green, your favorite color”—that I may as well reflect on it.
For me, green represents life. It’s vibrant but cool and subdued; it’s everywhere, but somehow still not everywhere enough. As I debated whether this was a good topic for my newsletter while driving the other day, I hit every green light. I took that as a sign.
I won’t belabor this much longer, but I’ve long been fascinated by albums whose covers are dominated by a single color. And yes, green is the one I’ve thought about most. I’ve even made playlists compiling some of these albums, but this week I wanted to take it a step further and dig into five that represent the idea to me in different ways. Much like last month’s reflection on spring albums, I worked out my thoughts and feelings on graph paper. From the experimental sounds of Duval Timothy’s latest album and Sofie Birch, to the hushed underground indie rock of Yves Jarvis and Dum Dum Girls, to—yes, once again—Hiroshi Yoshimura, I hope you find some green you love this week.
20th Century Ambient Coming in November
Well, speaking of green things, I have a very green book coming out soon! 20th Century Ambient is now available for pre-order. If you’ve been enjoying the blend of music deep dives and comics in Another Thought, I think you’ll really love this.
“Through text and comics, 20th Century Ambient searches through ambient music's recent history to unearth how the genre has evolved and the role it plays in our daily lives.”
It’s out November 13, 2025 from Bloomsbury Books. Don’t miss your chance to reserve a copy now.
I'm slowly making my way through your posts Dusty and while I was listening to Sofie Birch yesterday I thought "I wonder if Dusty has written about her yet" and not only had to you written about her, but my favorite album of hers. I absolutely love Holotropica. Will there ever be a day where you take your ambient music love to the airwaves and sub in for Alex on an off week for Pacific Notions? :)
I'd have to throw Fiddlehead's Between the Richness on there. Green is my fave color too.