Photo by Sonia Child.
Melbourne band The Glorious are excited about their upcoming album Falcon, which will be released by The MuseBox on January 8th. Produced by Julian Mendelsohn (Belle and Sebastian, Paul McCartney), the album is filled with The Glorious’ trademark haunting, vividly rendered melodies and emotionally immediate songs penned by lead vocalist/co-founder David Mather. Mather’s personal, reflective lyrics mesh gorgeously with the band’s sound, which can go from mellow Americana to lush, sweeping arrangements that engulf the listener, sometimes within the span of one song. Glide Magazine is excited to premiere the title track off Falcon, and we also talked with the David Mather about the process of creating it, songwriting, touring plans, and more.
Julian Mendelsohn is a long-time collaborator and produced the album. What is your relationship like musically and what did he bring to the table as far as building the sound of this album?
Julian gives us a lot of space musically. He’s a great people guy and understands what bands need to operate at their highest level. It’s important for me have artistic freedom and Julian makes room for that while maintaining quality control. It’s very collaborative.
It seems like Melbourne has a pretty vibrant music scene these days with acts like Courtney Barnett and such. Do you consider The Glorious to be a part of this and can you maybe shed some light on what the scene is like?
That’s certainly true of Melbourne but we’ve never felt part of any scene at all. If anything we feel like outsiders. There are a ton of bands in this city and a lot of great venues but we’ve never been part of a particular sound or movement. We like it like that.
Are there any specific bands, albums or musical styles that inspired the band when you starting writing for Falcon?
Not really. More than anything this album was about us further developing our own sound, embracing our true nature and style. There are always touchstones for us – Pink Floyd, The Band, Ryan Adams, The Beatles. Marvin Gaye was an influence in developing a couple of tracks. But we also looked back to our early work to see how we could tap into that essence and build upon it.
The title track feels layered and atmospheric – can you talk about the process of recording it?
Everything but the vocals were recorded in one session over about two hours. We nailed it on the second take, really the first time that we’d played the song the way it should sound. We’ve learned over the years, with Julian’s help, not to inhibit or censor ourselves in the studio. Recording is like taking a photo – it’s a snapshot in time that hopefully captures the essence of the song. There was almost a sense of being guided in this session – things came together incredibly quickly.
Where did the idea for the lyrics in this song come about?
The idea came in two parts. I first had the image of a man lying in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to move and possibly dying. This developed into a meditation on the creative process, the importance of being able to create freely and allowing the spirit to flow.
A lot of the songs on the album, including the title track, feel very close and heartfelt. Where do you find ideas for songs and are there parts of your own personal experiences that you put into them?
There are always elements of my personal experiences in my songs. If I’m going to sing something it has to be real, not necessarily in a literal sense, but as something that resonates deeply with me. The ideas usually start with one or two key lines and develop from there. Each of our albums is particular to its time. They all reflect what I was going through when I was writing them.
You’ve said that the band is ready to hit the U.S. Are there any tour plans in the works?
We’re ready. No specific plans as of yet but we’re working on it.
The album has a lot of different instrumentation going on and a huge sound. Will the band be able to bring that same sound out in the live setting?
We treat the studio and live as two different worlds. We don’t look to replicate exactly what’s on record – a live show should have a unique energy and bring a different life to the songs. Having said that, the instrumentation on the record is really not very dense, and the sound comes from Julian knowing exactly where to place things in the mix. There’s a big sound because there’s a lot of space!
Give a listen to Glide’s exclusive premiere of The Glorious’ title track of Falcon:
Falcon will be released by The MuseBox on January 8th. For more music and info on The Glorious check out theglorious.net.
