Record Review: Glass Notes
The Glass Notes
Dust and Hours
Seattle, WA
Produced and mixed by Robb Benson // Recorded in the Shelk project studio, Seattle, WA // Mastered by Nate Yaccino, Robert Lang Studios, Shoreline, WA
Prolific musician Robb Benson may have launched his new band The Glass Notes in a Seattle pub, but his project with poet Jake Uitti could never be called a bar band. On their soulful debut Dust and Hours, the two offer up a lyrically and vocally driven mix of indie pop, acoustic folk and alt-rock tinged with bits of country and Motown soul.
▼ Article continues below ▼After 13 albums over 12 years with bands Dept. of Energy, Dear John Letters and Nevada Bachelors, Benson’s songwriting is well honed, and Uitti’s poems supply a strong catalyst for Benson’s impassioned vocals.
This is most evident on standout songs “Glass Notes,” which finds Benson singing his heart out a la Jeff Buckley, the upbeat “Thunderous,” where guitarist Benson, bassist Uitti and drummer Perry Morgan revive the best of ’90s radio alt-rock, and on the powerful ballad “Something Left,” when Benson’s emotional delivery recalls John Lennon: “It doesn’t matter / cute faces and cold disgraces / something left / as we, the world, cry to the made-up beauty.”
It’s a striking mix; Uitti and Benson make a great team, with the poems steering Benson’s singing toward an emotional climax. Be ready to be touched. (Roam Records)
