An almost guttural bassline staggers alongside appropriately troglodytic percussion, accented by the kind of forlorn, chiming licks you’d hear on a turn-of-the-century Cave In EP, all of which easily subdues the barely-there clean vocals. That’s how Austin post-everything adventurers Glassing announce the first communique from their as yet unnamed third LP, due on Brutal Panda hopefully sometime at the end of this godforsaken year. It’s an ugly little fucker of a lullaby, and even with this advance warning, you will be lulled to hypnotic complacence by the first four minutes of “Twin Dream.” It’s the ensuing three minutes where Glassing’s version of Mr. Hyde emerges to wrench the dream into shrieking, blasting, immersive, cataclysmic nightmare fuel. If “Twin Dream” is even remotely indicative of what’s to come after the three-piece’s alluringly unpredictable 2019 sophomore LP Spotted Horse, we’re in for a wild ride.
Check out the band’s helpful “Twin Dream” backstory, then dim the lights and find a nice mildewy corner to huddle in as you stream the track below.
On the heels of our first Europe tour being cancelled, alongside some festival dates, we decided to record the first half our new record. It was an old Texas country studio that had a wistfulness of nostalgia and comfortability, but a bleakness reserved for those who could see the crumbling infrastructure. A place where the style of music that once thrived here is gone and forgotten and what’s left now is whatever godless sounds we manage to churn out. The walls were covered by album art from artists like the Dixie Chicks (which, by the way, we think it’s super badass they dropped the Dixie from their name recently). We tracked the songs live together, but compartmentalized in different areas of the recording studio, only separated by glass windows.
Sonically, we wanted to focus on a pace and composition that burned slowly. Mood was important here, and it ranges from grim to hopeful to destructive. We wanted drums to be stark. Performance-wise, the unhurried nature of the song’s beginning in tandem with the bleak tones and reverb produced a dark, leisurely rhythm, thanks to our very loved sound engineer Andrew Hernandez. We’re definitely wearing our “Anatomy of Habit” influence on our sleeves on this one. It was also the first time using some new gear; [Jason] Camacho has been working with Worshiper cabs/drums here in Austin. Cory [Brim] performed on his new axe from Mason Guitars (handmade by Mike from Cult Leader) and used an even lower, more obscure tuning.
The song we’re releasing first from the new record, “Twin Dream,” conceptually is about splintered realities. The answer that’s nearly in reach, if only the fractured dream could be made whole. As it exists now, the shared dream is a fantasy nightmare, one half blinded by happiness, the other blind to happiness.
Get digital version of “Twin Dream” over at Glassing’s Bandcamp and check back regularly for updates on their forthcoming new LP.
