Post-rock is a constantly expanding universe: an increasing number of bands emerge from time to time, often with good ideas, learning from the lessons of the older ones and becoming great themselves. Some sounds are now a must for anyone who appreciates the genre and the choice in this sense is increasingly wide. Some bands try to experiment with new sounds or with refreshing ideas and this is certainly a good thing, while there are others that instead give priority to the emotions to be merged into the songs and try to adapt the sounds to what they intend to communicate. Paradoxically this makes them more personal and unique even if the sounds they use to express themselves are already known. Among these bands there are some that represent a sort of refuge for me, a safe place where I know I can come back when I want to calm my mind and let myself be enveloped, knowing that I will rarely be disappointed.
Glories, from Birmingham, are without a doubt one of these bands. They always manage to weave delicate textures that range from dreamy and ethereal atmospheres to crescendos full of catharsis that flow into passages with a strong emotional rate and a great sense of musicality. ‘Distant After’, the fourth work of the Birmingham band, comes two years after the previous album “There Is No Stillness” and let me say it right away: it is no exception.
As far as I’m concerned the artwork is a very important factor of an album, and that of “Distant After” is very evocative; I love trees, so this stylised tree immersed in green shades with branches that almost seem like roots had already intrigued me even before listening. The title as well got me hooked thinking that a “After” can be “Distant” when you contemplate too much about the “Before”. And that the concept of future is just an invention of our mind, a series of distant “After” one after another. But that’s enough with the philosophical talking, let’s talk about the music here.
Overall, these songs are small treasure chests full of myriad unexplored landscapes, nuanced memories that reappear and shine even in the most misty parts. The layers of the compositions are always suspended between dreamy vibes and lucid awakenings impressed by the tones of the guitars. There are intermittent elements like the use of a soft xylophone or subtle synth notes, that manage to colour the sound without getting too much in the way.The songs always maintain their focus and their balance while grabbing your head and letting unveil all the emotions you could think through a skillful use of all the elements on the table. The tight and warm drumming is another beauty of the record and certain brilliant moments remain stuck in your mind long after you have finished listening.
These guys truly know how to create soundscapes: you can almost see the sun rising through the ethereal atmospheres of “Slaw Dawn” or float away with the delicacy of “Driftwood”; you can lose track of time exploring valleys full of wonder during “Time Turned Back” and “Easy Dreamless Sleep”, two songs absolutely faithful to their evocative titles. These songs are full of emotions, and when they reach their climax, opening the sound to a variation of the main patterns of the delayed guitars, they always keep their dreamlike atmosphere intact. Another example is “Every Last Moment”, that goes from almost ambient to joyful to energetic in such a natural way, capturing a lot of different moods and delivering one of the highlights of the record.
I would like to dwell a bit on my favourite song of the album. It’s the first single released, “Make the Hills Echo”: it’s an unconventional song in the clichés of the genre. This banger starts in the most uplifting and magnificent of ways just to calm down pretty soon, letting a long section unfold in which the two guitars talks to each other in a very emotional way. When the drums kicks back in after a short synth/guitar/bass break I can’t help but float away in a melancholic and nostalgic serenity that gives a true catharsis to my soul in its final minutes. It’s the feeling of the rain when you decide to embrace it and stop searching for a way to avoid it; the brighter notes of a guitar are balanced by the echo and the reverb of the other guitar, resulting in a beautiful sense of introspection until the final explosion, which rejoins with the joyful beginning. It’s so beautiful that I find myself looping it over and over.
This is a work that grabs you by the hand and dresses all your best memories of a dreamlike and contemplative aura. It doesn’t matter if those scenarios are full of joyful moments or bearing a sense of nostalgia with them: there is a melancholy and almost winter veil in all the compositions, without ever resulting in real sadness, that creates a simple and constant sense of warm beauty like the tree in the artwork. ‘Distant After’, even in its short 36 minutes runtime, manages to captures the complex beauty of the nature through simplicity. I’ll definitely add this record to my “refuge” records, and I can tell you that it is one to which I will return very often. Even in the distant after.
(Autoproduzione, 2020)
1. Slow Dawn
2. Every Last Moment
3. Driftwood
4. Make The Hills Echo
5. Time Turned Back
6. Easy Dreamless Sleep