With their new release for Italian experimental label OOH-sounds, the French production duo Glass ask “how profound is the influence of pervasive media on how we shape our tastes?” The follow-up to their debut EP on Santé Records, crY, acts as a response to the over-saturated media landscape and aesthetic fragmentation. Here, Glass’ hyper-kinetic production design inundates the listener with sub-bass reverberations, complex glitch patterns and heavily processed samples that conglomerate in an ever-shifting mass of multi-dimensional sound.
A glut of sonic information is contained within crY as embodied by the “meta-object” pictured on the album cover. Designed by French graphic artist Marick Roy, the amorphous structure is described as a “sort of black hole where all the aesthetics of ‘crY’ concentrate in a mysterious, eerie, dense thing.” This object substantiates Glass’ sound in a synthetic form that transcends localization, much in the same way Glass transcend genre classification through their hybrid approach to production. As a physical accessory to the release, the “meta-object” is manifested as a ‘foulard’ – a lightweight scarf providing tangible adornment to crY.
Mock-up of the ‘crY’ scarf – available to purchase w/ the album.
Throughout crY, moments of levity are contrasted with compositional agitation. The title track is an example of the latter – its multiform drum programming and post-dub atmospherics coalescing over ricocheting, metallic clatter. Today, we premiere “Foreign Body [D Version],” one of the more ambient-leaning tracks on the album. It opens with droning high frequencies and indecipherable samples, interspersed with digital noise. Throughout the track, sonic artifice is diffused, corroding the placid, synth textures.
crY is out 18/09/20 on OOH-sounds. Pre-order it here.