The Glasshouse Cornish band new track and video released!

CORNISH BAND THE GLASSHOUSE HAVE RELEASED A NEW TRACK AND VIDEO. READ THE MUSIC COLLECTIVE’S STORY HERE AND CHECK OUT THE YOUTUBE LINK BELOW TO CATCH THEIR AWESOME MV AND TUNE…

Cornwall really is a hotbed of musical talent right now. And one of the freshest acts to emerge out of the Duchy over recent months is The Glasshouse, who formed just a couple of years ago in the pretty (and pretty quiet) village of Gweek near Falmouth.

And what makes this band so exciting? Well, firstly they are more a musical collective than a band as they all share ownership of their tunes but can come and go (and bring in new members, of course) as they please. But secondly, they present Cornwall in a fresh way, be that in their songs, lyrics or videos. And what do we mean by fresh? Simply: we haven’t seen or heard local tunes like this before.

But what sort of music do The Glasshouse play? Well, we say they are reminiscent of a dreampop act with clear influences from across the EDM world, as well as from the storied wells of soul and blues. However, their music is elevated further by their sublime vocal harmonies and their summery lyrics.

And what song have they just released? Ah, well that’s called ‘If You Want It (I Got Soul)’ and we will say no more about it other than we haven’t stopped listening to it at Proper Cornwall towers since it dropped in late April. But judge for yourself by clicking the link (and bonus marks for naming the filming locations in and around Falmouth on the way!)…

The Glasshouse is Elowen Waters on vocals and violin, Jake Walpole on vocals, Benjamin Brockbank-Naylor on vocals, Sam Judd on guitar and production and Rory Thomas-Lawton on percussion and production. The collective tells Proper Cornwall that there is an ‘album on the way’ over the summer months so watch this space for details on that.

‘If You Want It (I Got Soul)’ has already been played on BBC Music’s ‘Introducing in the South West’ radio show. It has also been well received by many people who have already heard it, including our team, of course, at Proper Cornwall.

Rory Thomas-Lawton tells us: “This song was written during the spring of 2021, when we would spend our days driving a yellow van – which is featured in the video – off to the beach whenever it got too hot. We spent the evenings jamming and recording in an ex-industrial greenhouse in Gweek, near Falmouth.

“Our songs are assembled on-the-fly during jam sessions, making use of the greenhouse’s unusual atmosphere and acoustics. All sorts of things make it into the recordings, from the clinking of empty beer bottles to the local birdlife. The resulting music is a raw and organic taste of the space, with playful production, beautiful vocals, guitars, violins and much more.”

Thomas-Lawton says that the idea for the ‘If You Want It (I Got Soul)’ music video – which is all filmed on Gylly Beach in Falmouth – came from a lyric in one of the song’s verses that croons ‘to the ocean, such a hurry’. He says: “We had this vision of somebody abandoning normalcy and trying to get to the sea as quickly as possible. It spoke volumes about the spirit of fun that the song came out of. We met Tim Merrifield, who is that main dancer in the video, in Falmouth. We knew he’d be the perfect person to bring the story to life.”

Merrifield tells Proper Cornwall that he created the dance work in the video with other dancers that he knew he could trust. He says all the dancers in the video ‘came from a process with The Urban Playground Team’, the company behind the combination of parkour principles with contemporary and urban dance in performance. The dancers in the video all worked ‘closely on performance techniques’, says Merrifield, and he adds that The Urban Playground Team set up the ‘Emergent Ensemble’ programme to ‘skill up recent graduates and support them on their way to becoming self-sustaining’.

“For the video,” continues Merrifield, “I put together a variety of choreographic ideas which add to the story. It was fundamental that the group were open to these ideas and were able to play with them. I wanted to bring out the individual qualities of the dancers and utilise their skills of improvisation, which is demonstrated during the sections in the sea. We were able to create a lot of content in such a short amount of time due to the skill of the dancers.”

Merrifield says that the elements came into play during the music video shoot. “While dancing on the rocks,” he says, “the wind was battering me. It fuelled movement except when it involved moving my feet. If they weren’t planted then I was going off the edge. Being in the water was a challenge too as we got battered by waves but it was completely enjoyable. I thought we had enough material and I was about to call it [a day] but people just wanted to keep dancing.” He says that another dancer ‘came up with the idea that ended up being the last shot in the sea’.

The single is available on all major streaming platforms and the album is expected to be finished by the autumn. For more details follow the ensemble on their Instagram account right: here. Thomas-Lawton says: “We are a group of friends in Cornwall who have found a unique process of songwriting and jamming. We hope to share more of this sound as the making of our album nears completion! We love it and I hope you do too!”

Thomas-Lawton adds: “Having spent a lot of time in Falmouth visiting places like [community music and arts space] The Cornish Bank and all the various venues with their open mic nights, we can see that an amazing community of Cornish musical talent has been created over the past few years! We hope to perform our new album in Falmouth once it’s complete!” 

The Glasshouse don’t have any live gigs at the moment due to working on their next album but as soon as they do, we’ll let you know all the dates and deets. But, for now, get this song on loop. This is one of the best Cornish bands on the circuit right now. As the old adage goes, people in Glasshouses… rock!