by Hugo Reyes (@hvreyes5)
While it may not seem like it, I Had Everybody Snowed is a celebration for Skylar Sarkis, the songwriter behind the project Growing Stone. Its release date, November 30th of 2020, marked three years of sobriety for the musician. That wasn’t originally the plan; the record’s beginnings can be traced back to 2013, and several of its songs can be found on a 2017 EP. The seven year journey of conception to completion ends up working in the album’s favor, showing ten separate scenes, letting the listener come to their own conclusion.
The lyrics are able to shine thanks in part to not only the subdued guitar playing of Sarkis, but also the subtle production choices that producer/engineer Jon Markson (Drug Church, Stay Inside) brings. It meets this middle point between stripped down folk and a blown out singer-songwriter project. A song like “Family Trip II” is gigantic in comparison to its previous version. As the song reaches its conclusion with the crushing line of “maybe all of my problems are drug induced,” you hear a symphonic outro, boosted by a harmonica and piano track. Without those little extra choices, the last verse just wouldn’t resonate so strongly.
You’re forced to sit in the muck on not only “Family Trip II” but the entire record. There is a frankness that is to be admired, even if it's hard to sit with at times. Lead single “Party City” details buying whippets and “checking into St. Mary’s to placate the dismissive line of get the help you need”. That line has a quiet sting that underlies the entire record and is easy to pass over until the sixth or seventh listen. On each play-through, the bottomless pit of addiction slowly unravels. There is no resolving note or closure, instead opting for an ending that feels like the middle of a sentence.