The Copenhagen duo Glas (Lisbet Fritze and Louise Foo) was here only a few weeks ago with a catchy electro-pop song about dancing with fairies. This time they’ve scaled things down to a slow-burning piece of lo-fi about “the impossible questions about the well-being of our planet” while at the same time “simultaneously delving into human feelings of big dreams, loss and insufficiency.”
The frustrations inherent in the first half of that statement inevitably make their mark on the song with its moody minor key dissonant strumming that could easily accompany a wake. Some flittering synthesiser notes attempt to redress the balance but don’t really succeed.
The lyrics are a little dispiriting too, but the saving grace for the song is that you eventually realise that what Glas is doing is replicating in their own fashion the gentle protest songs that represented the social awareness of the 1960s and 70s – before social awareness was even known by that term- and which sprang from the pen of the likes of Dylan, Lennon, Sam Cooke with his ‘A change is gonna come’, Barry McGuire’s ‘Eve of Destruction’, Zager and Evans’ ‘In the year 2025’ and a pantheon of work from Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and many others.
I’m thinking here mainly though of Melanie (Safka), whom I only recently learned left us at the end of January. ‘Hungry Moon’ could have been a Melanie song, although she would have offered it in a more folky style.
I do still hear this sort of 2020s ‘rebellion ballad’ from other artists but often they are too intense even for their own message. In seeking a ‘duality’ between the two vocal parts, creating a duet between night and day as they put it, they’ve hit exactly the right spot just as Melanie did.
Now I’m saying they are the 2024 version of that lady, only suggesting that you think of her as a reference point when settling down to listen to the song. I reckon that will add to your enjoyment.
‘Hungry Moon’ is out now and the album ‘Kisses like Feathers’ is out worldwide on March 15th, 2024 via Hamburg’s hfn music.
The album is mixed by top indie/electronic music producer Anders Trentemøller, which suggests it will be oriented in that direction.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glas.music.dk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glas_dk/
