Glåsbird is artist and composer Harry Towell, who has been active under this pseudonym since late 2018. Initially, this was ran as an anonymous side-project with music released solely on his label Whitelabrecs, and in Spring 2024 Harry revealed his identity through an interview with Kevin Press on The Moderns blog. A geography and culture enthusiast since childhood, Harry launched this project as an aside to work under his own name and as Spheruleus, and as a means to explore the remote corners of the Earth through music. The 8 album series, which also unofficially incorporated 2 EPs is called A Sonic Expedition. The series began in the Arctic, with albums themed around Greenland and Svalbard, before it headed to the Norwegian fjords, Novaya Zemlya and then Siberia. Next the series moved to the Himalayan mountains, then across to warmer climes in the Pacific Ocean before concluding in Antarctica. The series was met with critical acclaim, with Svalbarð being featured on Bandcamp’s Ambient tag page and endorsed as ‘genre defining’ under their 'essential collection'.

Harry has also produced music for film as Glåsbird and his first title was providing compositions for a documentary called 'Welcome to Nain' by The Loners. This was followed by a piece being selected for Italian film Casa Occupata, directed by Federico Mattioni. Shortly after, the D.H Lawrence tributary film Return to Sea and Sardinia directed by Daniele Marzeddu, invited Harry to compose the soundtrack. In 2021 Whitelabrecs released the Original Soundtrack for the film, complete with a 32 page booklet of stills and narrative.

Following a brief respite since the completion of the A Sonic Expedition series and after revealing his identity, Harry will take the Glåsbird project forward.

*Press photography by Bethany Towell