One might assume that an EP that features contributions from musicians known for their worth with Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, and James Blunt might have a certain ‘Power Pop’ sheen, big hooks, and bigger guitars, but Yellow & Purple, the debut EP by Shining Glass, is far more intriguing and challenging than one might expect. It is a testament to co-producer and engineer Ken Sluiter that he put together a crack studio band to bring the music of Arizona-based musician and songwriter Drew Johnson to life.
Yellow & Purple, which was recorded at 64 Sound, Los Angeles, and Pluto Studios in Tel Aviv, Israel, opens with with “Two Birds,” the EP’s most accessible track and an exercise in warmth and easygoing charm. Johnson’s acoustic guitar is woven into a musical tapestry that is threaded with keyboards and synths courtesy of Roger Joseph Manning, Jr (Jellyfish, Imperial Drag) and the aforementioned Sluiter, whose other studio credits include work on albums by Weezer and OK GO.
The EP’s second track, “Drawing Fires,” is where things get really interesting. Shlomo Deshet’s percussion and Gal Hever’s oud are mixed with spacey synths for a truly psychedelic listening experience. The following track, “Bald King of the Old World,” continues this trajectory and Johnson’s vocals and phrasing strongly recall Nick Drake, who was also hard to easily pigeonhole during his short career on the fringes of the English folk-rock scene of the late 60s and early 70s.
“Watering Trees” is even more sparse and ethereal than “Bald King…” and I imagine that this is by design as Johnson’s enigmatic lyrics come to the fore: So sad what we’ve wasted, what is going by/ Harsh judgement takes nourishment from fading skies.
“Three Died” takes the Middle Eastern influence of “Drawing Fires” even further back in time; to Western ears, the fully instrumental track recalls Peter Gabriel’s Passion, the 1989 soundtrack to 1988’s Martin Scorsese-directed The Last Temptation of Christ.
Yellow & Purple comes to a close with “Garden of Knives,” which is not quite as accessible as “Two Birds” but acts as a bookend to the musical journey that the listener has taken. Instruments both Eastern and Western, vintage and new, and, mostly, subdued (Charlie Paxson, known for his work on James Blunt’s Back to Bedlam, shows real restraint on the drums) blanket the auditor in layers sound.
