You may recall this Melbourne-based trio appearing the LP Blog last September when I featured Mirage, the title track from their debut release which came out in 2021. It’s follow-up has been a long time coming, but next month Glass Beams are due to release a new EP entitled, Mahal.
Following a recent signing to Ninja Tune, this will be their first offering on their new label home and ahead of its issue comes the records title track, Mahal.
Citing his father as an inspiration, the band’s founding member, Rajan Silva recalls how:
“I was looking for new energy & inspiration to write a bunch of new music. I recalled a childhood memory of my parents and I watching a DVD they had bought: ‘Concert For George’ (a tribute concert for George Harrison from the Beatles). George’s long time collaborator and friend Ravi Shanka put an Indian Orchestra together for that concert, and even though I hadn’t even started playing music at the time that I watched this, the sounds really stuck with me,
My father was born in India and moved here when he was 17, and after recalling this memory I decided to look up musicians from my father’s hometown and surrounding areas. I found a wealth of Indian classical, disco and pop music that formed the building blocks for this record. As soon as I had that vision of what I wanted to write and why I wanted to write it, the songs just flowed out really.”
This cross-pollination of East and West, of old and new, is a sentiment that the band have sought to capture in their self produced works. Across their output, Glass Beams presents a timeless fusion of cultures and sounds beamed through a prism of live instrumentation and DIY electronica, all wrapped up inside a mesmerizing and mystical visual world of their own making.
As 2023 drew to a close and the dust settled after a whirlwind of touring, Glass Beams retreated to their home studio to record their new material…and so Mahal was born!
The fusion of styles and eras comes together seamlessly in their sound and this new track is as heady and potent as ever! Smouldering and enticing, rhythms are tight and hypnotic, whilst vocal incantations conjure magic and mystery. I like how this song creates a passage of escapism, allowing the mind to wander and the body to relax.
I’m looking forward to hearing what the rest of this EP has to offer! Mahal is due for release on 22nd March, so if you fancy pre-ordering a copy (and downloading this track now), you can do that here. Enjoy!
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