Glider Pilots - In aNother World

Glider Pilots

In Another World
self-released; 2015

3.9 out of 5

By Jamie Robash

There is a quiet brilliance ignited by Glider Pilots on their five-song debut album In Another World. Comprised of the brother and sister duo Samantha Hope and Benjamin Hope, these slow, melodic indie-folk songs are stark and quiet. Benjamin Hope picks slowly at the strings of his acoustic guitar, letting the notes ring out and resonate as Samantha Hope’s vocals, soft and ethereal drift and roll out slowly, like a fog. 

From the very start of In Another World the listener is picked up and carried along, as though in a slow moving current. This current begins with “Test Dummy” a song backed by and made intensely moving by its soft slow-heartbeat drums. Here Samantha Hope describes a relationship being ended as she sings, “Objects In the mirror/May be closer than they seem/But you're, further away/then you've ever been.” She does not however give in to being maudlin nor a victim, as she later sings, “Cause you see I won’t be/ Your test dummy/I won’t be/ I’m Not Yours.” It is lyrics like these that keep these songs from being unjustly labeled “breakup songs.” 

By far the best track on In Another World is “I’ll Be Waiting.” Samantha Hope’s vocals quietly mix with a ghostly cello played by Johanna Delaney and the simple but penetrating strums of acoustic guitar. Though here what also stands out is the way in which Samantha Hope delivers her vocals with a thoughtful slowness. It is as though she is caught in a daze, the words simply dropping from her lips as she stares into space. 

The title track gets a little upbeat compared to the other songs, and for this it stands out as being too poppy and doesn’t seem to fit in amongst its predecessors. The song in many ways sounds unfinished. This is largely due to the way the jangly guitar loop and slow kick drumbeat are being played as though they had just been thought of. It lacks the pacing and the heart found on In Another World’s other tracks.  

If the addition of the final and bonus labeled track, “Friendly Mountains” is any indication of the direction that Glider Pilots is moving towards musically, their next record has the potential to be even better. “Friendly Mountains” has the addition of gentle keyboards, and the guitar work is the best of all the songs on the album. 

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