STYLE: Rock RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 685-1368 LABEL: KMG KMGD8692 FORMAT: CD Album RRP: £0.18
Reviewed by Mike Rimmer
Since this is produced by Steve Hindalong and Common Children's Marc Bird, it's no surprise that Glisten have created an ambient rock masterpiece with plenty of soulful sounds and "out there" moments. Spiritually the band are refreshingly lyrically direct yet without ever sounding obvious. This is alternative music that isn't reliant on grunge but instead draws on a few '80s influences. I've been playing the opening cut "Untainted" on my radio programme simply because I love the whole vibe of the songs and its cry for holiness. "Encourager" has a wall of extremely cool guitar underpinning Jason Pettit's vocal explorations (he reminds me of very early Tear For Fears!). Other favourites include the totally understated worship of "Rejoice" - an alternative worship song if I ever heard one, complete with haunting cello - and the closing mysterious instrumental "The Last Blueshift". This is an excellent album from the jangly delicate moments through to the full throttle explosive power of something like "Choose Me" or the fascinating peaks and troughs of "Mothership". If you like The Choir or Common Children or want to explore some alternative music that is blessed with some subtlety, you can discover that in this case. Glisten is good!
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The spelling of Marc's last name is "Byrd".