The Glass
At Swim Two Birds
Though Dublin-raised live electronic duo The Glass has been around for six years, it’s just now that their first album, “At Swim Two Birds”, has come to life. Looking at their history, dotted with singles, and a near album – the seven-track EP “Couples Therapy” – it begs the question, after already releasing a wealth of material…why an album? Why now? The answer, according to The Glass’ Dominique Keegan, is simply that those six years were needed for them to mature and commit to being electronic artists.
This core idea comes through in “At Swim Two Birds” loud and clear. Rock hallmarks of the duo’s earlier years are not forgotten, but rather reworked. “Heavy Disco” features echoing guitar licks among a space-scape of oscillation and buzzy undertones, while “Surrender” harkens to a more traditional live band feel with trickling atmospherics to compliment. The message here is – this is an electronic sound with rock elements, not the other way around.
Not every song toes the line so judiciously. In fact, several swing toward the extremes of the genres they toy with. From the pad-driven praise of aphrodisiacs in “Pheromone” to the amusingly upbeat and slightly Rapture-esque “Washed Up”, everything from hints of disco to techno can be heard wandering throughout, yet the point of view is never diluted.
“At Swim Two Birds” presents a potential look into The Glass’ future, but also cheekily references their past – the album title is also the name of Irish author Brian O’Nolan’s 1939 novel. Within, an unnamed narrator self-references the work, stating, “One beginning and one ending…was a thing I did not agree with”. Intentional or not, it’s the perfect way to describe the duo’s journey and the effortless mélange of influences put forth on this long awaited debut.
[...] we get into the meat of all this. Firstly, make sure you pop over to URB to read my review on The Glass’ debut album, “At Swim Two Birds”. Also, if you’re in the Indianapolis area, I’m headlining the infamous monthly High 5 [...]