“Compact grunge-rock and breezy torch songs,” is how online music magazine Pitchfork describes the debut of folk pop artist Margaret Glassy.
The 27-year-old California native will be performing with Bad Bad Hats at 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bishop Bar.
Talent buyer for the Bishop Dan Coleman also works with the local promotions team Spirit of ’68, which is also the host of Thursday night’s performance.
“She’s having quite a run,” Coleman said. “Last May she was opening for the Milk Carton Kids at the Buskirk. Now year on she has released an acclaimed album.”
After she released her EP, “If & When,” in 2012, her debut album “Emotions and Math” was released by ATO Records last June. Since then, she’s wrapped up her 2016 European tour and released a two-track Spotify Singles EP, including a cover of Lauryn Hill’s famed “Ex-Factor.”
She will be bringing her performance of “Emotions and Math” to the Bishop and exploring themes of lost love, old small town memories and the “power of specifics to tell universal truths.”
Also an experienced producer, Glaspy self-produced the new-album, a 12-track debut full of warm, intimate compositions next to biting, punk-influenced tracks.
After recording the song’s demos twice on her own, she took them to Sear Sound Studios in New York City to lay down the final tracks. Her clean and trim production style showcases her innovative songwriting and production skills.
On the track “You Don’t Want Me,” an uncertain love song about internal confliction, Glaspy sings a duet with herself: “’Cause you don’t want me, you don’t need me,” she sings in her own delicate melody. “I do, you’re on my mind every night of the week,” she answers herself in a pitched down version of her own voice.
Ahead in 2017, she’ll be embarking on a tour across the United States., Europe and Australia and will be joined on various dates by popular folk outfits the Lumineers and singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, including a headlining performance in the Bowery Ballroom in New York City.
“She is a gifted songwriter and a mesmerizing performer,” Coleman said. “It feels like we are catching lightning in a bottle.”
