Glass Vaults – The New Happy
The second album from New Zealand’s Glass Vaults is apparently recorded in a way specifically intended to induce Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, i.e. those soothing prickly sensations you might feel in response to certain audio stimuli like whispering or rustling sweetie wrappers. They wouldn’t be first act to chase the real life equivalent of a head orgasm – Holly Herndon’s 2015 album Platform included a characteristically dystopian take on ASMR – but it’s probably worth questioning how sincere they are about the endeavour.
With all respect to their music – which is enigmatic, catchy and generally a good time – it’s sometimes hard to know how seriously to take Glass Vaults, who not unlike Homeshake or latter-day Connan Mockasin, trade in a kind of whimsical lo-fi chic that always seems to teeter on the edge of satire. There’s a hint of side-eye, for instance, in the way singer Richard Larsen enunciates the syllables 'Broo-kah-lin' on instant earworm Brooklyn, as if mocking an affected accent, while the character he sketches on Savant (who dreams of taking his late night MSN chat buddy to 'Brasilia') is surely a work of self-deprecating autobiography.
Yet Glass Vaults are fully capable of earnestness, as demonstrated on Ms Woolley, a chirpy ode to childhood playtime. 'We were galloping like horses across the field,' Larsen remembers, while hyperactive guitar and keys squelch happily along behind him. These snatches of uninhibited playfulness stand out as The New Happy’s most straightforwardly fun passages.
Listen to: Ms Woolley, Sojourn
Buy Glass Vaults - The New Happy on LP/CD from Norman Records