By Myrren Porter
Upon the arrival of their tremendous fourth album, which is to be released in April 2021, Glasvegas have given us an early Christmas present with their new single ‘My Body is a Glasshouse (A Thousand Stones ago).’
First emerging onto the scene in 2008 with their debut album, which went on to sell over 300,000 copies in the UK. Glasvegas have continued to breathe fresh air into the music world while sticking to lyrics rooted in gritty realism accompanied by a distinctive Glaswegian tone. Subsequent albums ‘Euphoric Heartbreak ‘(2011) and ‘Later… When the TV Turns to Static (2013),’ again illustrated the bands talent for branching out in terms of musicality while maintaining their talent for spirited lyrics which deal with realities of everyday life.
This second single follows the release of ‘Keep Me a Space,’ which premiered in August of this year.
The new single debuted in 2014 in acoustic form at Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket Concert Hall, however the latest rendition of this track is more passionate infused and resounding.
Front man James Allan has again illustrated his incredible work ethic in not only producing yet another fantastic single to add to his locker, but also deciding to create and engineer the entire album, putting himself through the motions of continuous sleepless nights and digging deep to develop heart-felt lyrics.
Allan describes the toll of: “hundreds of nights up late, thinking about the person I am, the thoughts I feel, reasons why I feel them. Making this album has probably made me understand myself a bit better as a person, to be honest. And it’s the hardest I’ve ever worked on anything in my life.”
The bands awaited fourth album ‘Godspeed’ which is due to premiere next year presents itself as a fragmented portrait of a single evenings’ events.
In an interview with NME, James Allan describes a narrative thread which will run through the album’s entirety, focusing on the events of a single night.
He says: “The character basically leaves the house at the beginning of the album and starts to drive somewhere. The character’s always inside the car but there’s parts of that drive that are like a daydream, not reminiscent but the way you are when you’re out driving somewhere, your thoughts can jump from one place to the next, and then you’ll maybe notice something that has a memory in real time.”
Vacant yet still empowering, pacing forward vigorously to the beat of a snare drum, ‘My Body is a Glasshouse (A Thousand Stones Ago) is the albums most symbolic moment and showcases the writings talents of James Allen in a whole new light.
The tracks of Godspeed may follow a fictional narrative but to the bands front man, they are extremely personal not only as a result of the time spent working on them but how he as an artist was able to connect to each character on a human level, allowing for that raw emotion you experience when listening to Glasvegas.
Although we have only heard two singles from the bands much anticipated new album, we can already appreciate the heart and soul that has went into the works lyrically but also the musical components provided by Rab Allan and Paul Donoghue.
The band will release more material before the release of ‘Godspeed’ before touring the UK across April and May 2021.
Catch them at SWG3 on Friday 28th May.
WEBSITE: http://www.glasvegas.net
TWITTER: @glasvegas
INSTAGRAM: @glasvegasofficial
FACEBOOK: @glasvegas
The Music Files 