Return Of The Mystique, Glass Beams Rock The Park West

Jun 04, 2024 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews Comments Off on Return Of The Mystique, Glass Beams Rock The Park West

By Peter Thomas Ricci

“Mystique” is a word that is rarely bandied about today when one discusses musicians and bands. With the advent of social media and the over-exposure that comes with its most prominent platforms, we don’t really have acts anymore like Led Zeppelin (to say nothing of Robert Johnson) – musicians that cultivate secrecy and privacy, rather than publicity, and as such lend a mystery and intrigue to their sounds.

Which makes it all the more remarkable that Glass Beams exists. A trio of musicians hailing from Melbourne, Australia, the group always performs masked, and during their sensational show May 31 at Park West (moved from Sleeping Village to accommodate overwhelming demand), they did not utter one syllable to the audience; rather, after each hypnotic, winding, funky jam – with rhythm pockets so deep it’d make The Meters proud – the musicians simply saluted the audience, tuned their instruments, and tore into the next selection.

Indeed, it’s only recently, with the release of their incredible EP ‘Mahal,’ that the group released any information about its members. According to a release, “founding member Rajan Silva” is a Melbourne native, and was inspired by the diverse sounds of Ravi Shankar, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne, BB King, Asha Bhosle. The release mentions the group’s 2021 EP ‘Mirage,’ its overnight success, the touring that commenced, and the release of last year’s ‘Mahal,’ but that’s it – no mention of the other group members’ names, the instruments they play, and other normally revealed information.

Frankly, I think that’s awesome! We do not need every one of our admired musicians to have a social media presence; we do not need posts from them about breakfast, about their favorite brand of deodorant, or gods help us, whatever hair-brained explanation they have for the world’s inequities. We attend to these individuals because of their musical abilities, and it is infinitely refreshing how Glass Beams – with its complete lack of ego, its complete rejection of individuality, its complete embrace of mystique – is able to create musical textures that are not only swirling and diverse, but also immediately captivating; because we have no personalities to overcome, all we have is the music.

And what remarkable music it is! I mentioned The Meters earlier, and while the august New Orleans group is not mentioned among Silva’s inspirations, I couldn’t help but think of the group as I listened to Glass Beams’ total synchronicity: how the bass and drums collaborated to create a canopy of rhythm, how the liquid guitar lines caressed that space, how the musicians punctuated their instrumentation with hushed vocalizations – always single vocal notes, never words.

Suffice to say, it was a spellbinding experience, and I left with an immediate craving for my next Glass Beams experience.