From 2019 to 2023 we released the music of Glåsbird, a previously anonymous project run by Whitelabrecs label owner Harry Towell. This month, a 16 track compilation album was released, gathering music from each of the 8 albums in Harry's A Sonic Expedition series. This is an album in its own rights and serves as a 'lite' edition through this geography-inspired collection. It's weird writing a guest blog post on your own blog, but let's give it a go...

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Now the A Sonic Expedition series is complete, I wanted to collect it together somehow as a whole, so that people have a way to consume it in a way that is slightly less time consuming that all 8 albums! So that's why I curated a selection of tracks into the compilation CD, and it was given a new dimension thanks to the stunning photography of George Korunov, and the poignant words of Neil McRoberts, which can be found inside the 16 page booklet.

For this blog post I thought I'd walk you through each of the albums, which were based on a particular location of the world. My friend Mario had put created a video for a track from each album and these are gathered together on the Whitelabrecs YouTube channel; so these introduce each album. I had also bought a vintage map for each of the locations and so I took a photo and edited these, to accompany my thoughts reflecting back on each album. You can visit the Bandcamp page for any of the albums by clicking on the map, or HERE to check out the compilation.

Album Name: Gr​ø​nland
Location: Greenland
Release date: 9th February 2019

This record was my debut album under this name, a collection of experiments I'd created as I wanted search for a more modern classical sound in my music production. The initial inspiration came from a TV documentary presented by Alexander Armstrong, called Land of the Midnight Sun which I watched whilst I had the flu in winter 2018. I had been fascinated with the Arctic ever since learning about Michael Palin's Pole To Pole back in my 1990s childhood and so discovering this documentary was weirdly nostalgic. For the sound, I used some simple sample libraries for the strings and piano notes, and then arranged and drenched these in effects to create a sound aesthetic. I then recorded my electric guitar, ukulele and acoustic guitar to create lots of detailed accents to help make the sound my own. I like to use field recordings in my work to add narrative and texture but in this one, I thought the best way to achieve an added dynamic to this record was to record tape loops and put them into the freezer! I'd then record these back onto my computer and arrange them into the soundscapes throughout the album. I decided to start this as an anonymous project because at the time, the sound was quite different from work under my own name, or as Spheruleus and I wanted to differentiate it and use it as a way to experiment with new ideas. Once I completed this album, I the idea for the 'A Sonic Expedition' series became clear to me and a fictitious bird flying across the globe looking down at breathtaking scenery seemed apt!

Album Name: Svalbarð
Location: Svalbard
Release date: 10th August 2019

I'd been struck by the bug of creativity, inspired by my new idea as Glåsbird and in early 2019 got straight to work on the next destination for the series. An icy sail East of Greenland and you'll land at the Norwegian-owned islands of Svalbard. In my head this had always been a small uninhabited space, but I was fascinated to learn that Svalbard is pretty big, and that some 2600 people live there. Efterklang's documentary for their album Pyramiden was an obvious reference point and something I thoroughly enjoyed watching. I was particularly fascinated by the abandoned coal mine they visited and recorded at; as well as geography, abandoned spaces for me is one of the most inspiring subjects. The Gr​ø​nland album had done really well and so I was able to buy myself my first MIDI keyboard which is a small Arturia Minilab. I set it up with my old DAW (Zynewave Podium) and got to grips with capturing piano and strings melodies of my own. I used a little acoustic instrumentation in places, but these pieces were mostly MIDI compositions, accompanied with a lot of tape effects and saturation. This album went on to become the most successful in the series, being featured on Bandcamp's Ambient page listed as 'Essential Ambient'.

Album Name: Norskfjǫrðr
Location: Norwegian Fjords
Release date: 14th March 2020

This record was the closest to home, geographically, being based in the Norwegian Fjords. However, as suspected, the geography that belies the network of fjords couldn't be more different, with its trapped seas, valleys and isolated cabins. I imagined that I had been commissioned to record an album inside one of these lonely sheds, and how it might feel to be surrounded by these beautiful landscapes. By the time the album was released, the world was about to embrace isolation on a whole new level, with the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic. In this album I had upgraded my DAW to Reason and I used Norskfjǫrðr as my playground to get to grips with the features available. In truth as many experienced pros will tell you, there wasn't a massive jump and I found that largely I was making music using similar tools and techniques. I wanted this record to feel more acoustic and so the ukulele and acoustic guitar took centre-stage here. I also wanted some of the details to be a little more avant-garde in places, and so I experimented with recording various sounds with my violin bow, elastic bands toy percussion instruments. There was still a hint throughout of Modern Classical music, present in the previous two albums, but I wanted it to feel as if the sound had progressed a little on the course of my 'travels'.

Album Name: Novaya Zemlya
Location: Novaya Zemlya
Release date: 16th September 2020

I wasn't quite sure whether to go down into Europe and into less-remote territory, or continue along the Arctic. After looking at a few places, I could see little about Novaya Zemlya online except its history as a nuclear testing ground and the fact that there are very few inhabitants. Looking back right into the history books, I learnt that explorer Willem Barentsz is supposed to have died there back in the 16th century and I could only begin to imagine how treacherous a voyage would be back then, aboard wooden ships charting unknown, perishing territory. I approached production thinking about that sheer cold, and wanted to make this one a little more experimental and electronic in spaces. I've always loved the sound of radio static and this was a perfect opportunity to bring this into the aesthetic of a Glåsbird album here. I enjoyed working a little more with synths to build up atmospheres alongside the modern classical strings and frozen piano.

Album Name: Siberia
Location: Siberia
Release date: 28th August 2021

Siberia seemed an obvious next destination, just inland from Novaya Zemlya and whilst I was well aware of the sheer size of this land, when I bought a vintage map it helped frame the scale of the next location I'd be learning about. I was clear that I was looking at something both massive and remote, and decided I'd do a double disc album to fully explore the region. I got in touch with Nelly Elagina, a photographer who had explored some of Siberia, and she sent me loads of amazing photos. The more I looked at Siberia, the more I saw the impact of climate change; from the wild fires that were particularly devastating that year onto the weird phenomenon of 'Thermokarsts'. My friend Mario put together a really powerful video for the track 'Last Ritual' (see above) that for me, gets across many of the effects of climate change all in one short space. I approached the music production with a sort of delicate Modern Classical style, blending piano melodies and rich strings. There were some slightly more electronic or rhythmic leaning pieces in there too.

Album Name: Himalaya
Location: The Himalayas
Release date: 14th May 2022

I had originally planned an album based around the South Asian tea industry and had been learning about this for a while, as well as looking into the wealth of musical instruments from the region. I had even planned to come up with my own brand of Glåsbird tea, being a regular drinker of chai. However, in the studio I was unable to really make the sound come across as I had intended and so it was the first battle with writer's block that I had encountered during this series. Eventually I decided to change locations, after looking into the Himalayan mountain range. After watching the Netflix film 'Sherpa', I was fixed on this being the next place to explore and I also managed to craft a sound that I was happy with too. I knew that climbing a mountain would be tough but through watching documentaries, I was in awe with the breathtaking (literally) scenery, but also gripped by everything that goes into a Himalayan mountain expedition. I wanted the music to soundtrack the emotions a climber might experience on their first trip to the summit of Everest or one of its neighbours. So the opening tracks feel calm to begin with, before it becomes more dramatic and then ultimately, euphoric as the album progresses. For the sound, I combined a range of singing bowls, bells and chimes with dramatic strings.

Album Name: Pacifica
Location: The Pacific Ocean
Release date: 3rd March 2023

I had always planned to do an album in a warmer, more exotic location. Madagascar was on the list if I were to head South from the Himalayas. But instead, I went further East to the Pacific Ocean. This album for me was the most fascinating of all to learn about, with there being so many stories to tell from the world's largest sea. It was so interesting to learn of the history for the various islands across the Pacific, from the mysterious Moai stones on Easter Island to Yapese rituals, not to mention tales of cannibalism and failed explorer voyages. Bora Bora, which can be seen from the music video above, looks to be an impressive holiday destination; a real paradise! For the music, I wanted to all but abandon the strings and the modern classical sounds, in favour of a more dub-influenced approach, with rhythms and sun-bleached tape sounds. In our old home, we had a conservatory which had the kids' toys in, and every night I'd go in there to record the various percussion instruments I'd bought them. I also bought myself an ocean drum which was great fun. I'd then arrange these into the production, with acoustic instruments, synth and other ambient sounds, to create exotic soundscapes. I wanted to show an ability to change the location and sound significantly from the previous work in the series. It was a little risky, as the result was so different. But hopefully in the context of the subject matter and the overall series, people like it.

Album Name: Antarctica
Location: Antarctica
Release date: 14th October 2023

As a kid I had learnt about and watched Michael Palin's Pole To Pole documentaries and so it seemed a logical step to finish this series at the South Pole. I didn't know very much at all about Antarctica and whilst I was able to read a lot online, there weren't many documentaries I could look at this time round. Looking at the geography of this continent on Google Earth, it seems such an enormous, blank wilderness. What was also challenging, was that I was creating this album in my new home, at a time when I was also recording an album under my own name called 'Infinite Light'. The style I had planned for Antarctica was completely different from the more intimate sound of Infinite Light, which was about documenting village life, in and around my new home. But, I managed to balance these two projects well and they sound pretty different - Antarctica saw a return to the signature Glåsbird modern classical sound, with deeply textured strings and electronics. I wanted the music to feel more epic, to reflect both the location and the fact that this would be the 8th and final installment of the A Sonic Expedition series. After the album was finished, I made the decision to no longer be anonymous as it did not seem as necessary to hide behind this project now it was complete. I wasn't sure how I'd do it and so took a break for a while but earlier this year, I revealed the news through an interview with Kevin Press for his The Moderns blog - you can watch it below.

What's next? Well I am working on an album about the South Lincolnshire Fens where I live. The landscape here is flat and repetitive and very different to anything I'd covered in the A Sonic Expedition project. I wanted to explore how my work might sound and feel when I am able to physically explore the landscapes in person. Currently I'm planning for this to be released on Whitelabrecs in November, so watch this space!

You can follow Glåsbird's at the following places:
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'A Sonic Expedition' is available now in a limited edition run of 100 oversized gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs with a 16 page booklet insert as well as a digital version in a range of high quality formats. You can take a listen and buy a copy in your preferred digital format by clicking HERE!