John Glass is a solo act in Carrboro, North Carolina. Glass has only been making music for three years and he recently released Life is Hard. The EP contains five songs and covers a lot of ground. It was also engineered by Matthew Tarr.
It starts with “Brick Talk.” It starts with a distorted arpeggiated synth. Other electronic elements like pads and electronic percussion come in and give it an airy and mechanical quality. I was expecting Kanye West-like vocals on this song. The vocals arrive and the hook arrives. I think the most interesting part was the way the ghostly vocals weave with the rapping. The first time I heard it my brain had to adjust because there was a lot going on but on my second listen it clicked better for me. It’s a cool opener that felt original and unique. “God of the City” arrives with an ’80s sounding electro beat. The vocals are more spoken. Electronic elements like synths buzz about and eventually there’s a hook of sorts. As the song progresses there's never mutation and evolution of the sound. My attention seemed to be focusing more on the instrumental aspects of the song. “02GREEN” was a song where I thought the groove was inviting and calming. There are airy pads and notes which glide back and forth to each other. I really liked the vocals on this song which were catchy and often infectious. Similar to other songs there’s a lot of changes and transitions which keep you engaged. Lots of starts and stops as well as melodies that come and go. “Killa Killa” is much more aggressive and abrasive than any of the other songs. I liked the vocals on this song which is a hybrid mix of rapping and singing. The hook is again top notch. There’s a buzzing slight dissonant synth, heavy percussion and more over this anthemic song. I loved how the artist incorporated what sounds like a police siren towards the end of the song and how it transitions back into the chorus. “IWILLALWAYSLOVEYOU” is last. The same vocalists on “God of the City” seem to be back. The vocal delivery is similar. It’s a dramatic spoken word at first and then sounds a bit like the band The Postal Service. It felt like the most emotive and heartfelt song out of the batch and I loved the female vocals towards the end of the song There’s a lot to appreciate here and considering Glass just started making music this release is very impressive. Glass thinks out of the box and that’s one of the best qualities you have as an artist. I look forward to hearing where he goes from here.
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