Being in the mood for something new and different, an attitude I wear like a favorite tee-shirt, I decided to “travel” to Switzerland and check out Glaston this time around. Experimental/Post Rock has always been a subgenre of the progressive music family that intrigued me, so to self-educate I dug into the band’s latest release Inhale/Exhale.
First lesson is a song called Game of Tones. The piano is absolutely splendid here as the music paints a picture that burns brightly on the underside of my eyelids. The guitars bleed into a somber expression of sadness as they work with the drums to fill the canvas with ominous dark clouds attempting–albeit unsuccessfully–to blot out the light the piano shines on the entire piece. So much emotion, yet not a word was spoken… There are top notes of Far Behind The Sun and perhaps a touch of Byrne and Eno from their My Life in the Bush of Ghosts days. Glaston made it rain on this first cut; you can smell it in the air…
Level II of my “self discovery” with Glaston brought me to the cut Mariana Trench Skyscrapers. Reminiscent of Eno and his Moebius days with the mind massage you get from A Perfect Circle and Bent Knee, this is the type of music to wrap yourself in and let the world cruise on through. Once again the piano takes the lead while drums keep you focused on the subject matter. As the sky takes on the burnt orange of sunset the mood starts to intensify; just a friendly reminder the guitars are still present and accounted for…
Glaston is a four piece ensemble from Zurich, Switzerland. Formed in 2014, the band consists of Selina Maisch on piano, Jake Gutzwiller on guitar, Timo Beeler on bass, and David Preissel. Despite the lack of a vocalist, Glaston accepts the challenge to defy your senses; Selina makes that piano sing, and every instrument joining in is a beautiful choir.
Inhale/Exhale is the band’s first full length album, released October 2017. The band had released a few singles prior, two of which are on the album…next up in the queue is a jazz leaning piece called Ritou. I am immediately taken to a smoke filled lounge on a rainy night in Chicago, the only light a blue spot on Selina’s piano. The guitar and drums fold in gently at first as the band explores the inner workings of the mind, body, and soul. There are top notes of Jordan Rudess working his way through a classical/jazz mood wafting through the headphones; I’m just striving to not miss a note…
When you decide (and I know you will) to check Glaston out for yourself, I recommend the song Noir to whet your appetite. Once again Selina and her piano lead the rest of the band on a soothing stroll across the prog garden. The dark clouds hovering overhead start to rain down ever so gently as the canvas is filled with grey to black hues…then the drums add a bit of zeal to the journey. Glaston toys with you like the cute girl in math class who knows you like her…so go ahead and carry her books already…
Glaston was quite a heartfelt journey across the section of the prog garden where ambient meets jazz meets experimental; so much to decipher while relaxing and letting it wash over you. The sheer expanse of the prog garden is part of the lure and this section has its own siren song. Lyrics are not always necessary when expressing thought and emotion; bands like Glaston explain why in detail.
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