BY MARIAH ESTRAN
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GLASS CHILD
The ambient pop sound of Swedish singer-songwriter The Glass Child is combined with raw lyrics drawn from journeys focused on finding creativity. She’s a multi-faceted artist who has created four albums and written books to go along with her angelic tunes. With her latest album on the way, and her new single "Long Ago" already available. We spoke with the singer to learn more about how she searched for new inspiration, what her songwriting process entails, and what we can expect from her upcoming music.
Tell us more about your story — what made you decide to start creating music?
The Glass Child: “I started writing music when I was around 14 years old. I grew up always feeling pretty lost and unimpressed with what I saw around me. Then I discovered music and was just hypnotized right away, how the right melody put together with the right words and the right voice could make everything feel ok for just a few minutes. I knew right away I wanted to spend my life creating that feeling for other people.”
You have an ambient pop sound that intertwines raw emotion. Who have been some of your musical inspirations over the years?
TGC: “I’ve been influenced by so many bands in so many different genres! I grew up listening to folk and singer/songwriters, like Ani DiFranco, Bright Eyes and then Counting Crows, Matchbox 20… those are still my favorite bands. Copeland’s album ‘Ixora’ has been my biggest inspiration as a producer. That record is just pure perfection to me.”
You’re a seasoned traveler and explorer of different cities, how have those experiences shaped your music?
TGC: “I find that each new city or country has a new story to tell. A new album or a new book, wherever I am in my creative cycle. It’s something about the possibility to start over when you land somewhere new. No one knows me there, I can be whoever I want to be, and I can write my story in a different way.”
Not only do you create music, but you also write essays and poems. If any, how do these different forms of writing contribute to your songwriting process?
TGC: “I would say it’s a very different process from songwriting, but I think being an author has also made me a better songwriter just because of the creative freedom it gives me. I wrote my very first book that I published in 2013 about moving to London to try to be a songwriter. I published that book as an accompanying story to my first album. They went hand in hand, like, ‘here is the album but here is the story behind the album, how it came to be.’ It’s still how I use my writings now, they are like the journals that tell the story behind the songs.”
Lyrically, your tracks are full emotions gathered from past experiences. Why is it important that you showcase that in your music?
TGC: “Hmm... good question. I think that’s why I started writing in the first place, to be able to reflect and write my own past and life in a more beautiful way. Or maybe in a raw and bold way but at least I can put a beautiful melody on it. My urge to write comes from being out there living life, so it comes naturally I think. But I also write a lot for other artists as just a songwriter, and it’s just as powerful to help someone else tell their stories and past experiences. I think I just love real human stories, mine or someone else’s.”
Can you tell us more about your new song “Long Ago”? What’s the story behind this latest release?
TGC: “This came from a dream of mine. There is this lyric in the song of someone standing in the kitchen cleaning up the mess. I kept dreaming about that scenario, night after night. The song kind of wrote itself, and because it’s such a raw story I wanted to keep the production really minimal. It’s the only acoustic song that will be on the album I’ll release later this year.”
I understand that you have a new album on the way, how is this addition to your discography going to express who you are as an artist at this moment?
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GLASS CHILD
TGC: “I released my last record four years ago, and after that album I wasn’t sure I would release more music. I was tired and uninspired. I started writing for other artists and just developed myself as a producer, then suddenly life happened and I had all those stories I needed to get out. I hope this album shows growth and reinvention as a creator and as a woman. I hope it tells a story of leaving the past behind in order to face the sun and start something new.”
What can listeners expect next from The Glass Child?
TGC: “I have so many songs that I will release one by one, and I have also just finished a new book that will be published together with the new album later this year!”