When listening to the new disc from Edison Glass, music fans
might be excused if they think of Counting Crows when they get to the line in
“Let Go” about performing “Einstein on the Beach.” After all, Adam Duritz &
Co. do have a song by that name.
But that
would be incorrect.
“I think they stole it from Philip Glass,” says Edison Glass
guitarist James Usher. Of course, Philip—one of the most influential composers
of the late 20th century—is also the source of the ‘glass’ in the last part of
this band’s nom de rock. Which, Usher admits may sound like a stretch to some.
“If you sat down and listened to Philip Glass and our music, you might be hard
pressed to see the connection. We’ve been inspired by how he was a visionary in
his field and broke some boundaries. I’m a big fan of GlassWorks and Einstein
on the Beach.”
Time Is Fiction is the follow-up to the band’s 2006 debut on
Credential Recordings,
A Burn or a Shiver. In the record-when-you-can world of
indie-rock, it’s not a great surprise that half the new one was recorded before
the debut was even released.
The results turned out to be so strong that the band waited
to complete a second
full-length effort around the earlier sessions.
The result is that
Time Is Fiction is “a better record,”
Usher says. “It’s a more focused effort, and overall it has better
songwriting.”
“I feel we’ve taken down some of the boundaries,” agrees
lead singer Josh Silverberg. “We’ve enabled ourselves to be a little more
creative. In the past, we would need to write an up-beat rock song or a real
moody song. Now we’re more inclined to write music that’s what we’re feeling
and not be so worried about genre. Instead of trying toward a certain style,
we’re writing whatever happens and letting that be the style.”
“I think it’s becoming a more natural process,” adds Usher.
“It’s more about getting the music inside of you out, and not so focused on
trying to write what we think folks want to listen to.”
That goes for the lyrics, too. Edison Glass attempts to
write songs that speak of
life’s raw and significant feelings, yet avoid the clichés
that often dominate our polarized culture.
“We definitely do everything we can to create imagery that
avoids popular catch phrases and whatnot,” states Silverberg. “For us, it’s
about digging deep to find ways to say what you are feeling without sounding
like it’s already been said a thousand times before.”
“To keep it personal,” says Usher, “where we’re expressing
what we’re feeling, it’s important we not succumb to language that may not mean
the same thing we’re trying to say to everyone who might hear it.”
But you can speak of spiritual concepts like love,
forgiveness and grace. “I think it’s really genuine in telling the story of
Jean Val Jean,” concludes Silverberg, “where I ask myself, What would I be
feeling if I were facing that same charge?” [Read Les Miserables.] “When people
go through experiences in life, it’s just so much more genuine to get in there
and feel it, instead of us telling the audience, ‘This is what you are
feeling,’ and then tack on a ‘Jesus loves you.’”
Which, we agree, clichés to the contrary. Of course, Jesus
does.
Brian Quincy Newcomb is the Rev. Dr. Brian Q. Newcomb,
pastor of Christ Church UCC of Maplewood, Mo., just left of St. Louis…and just
left of about everybody, for that matter.