Amidst the skyscrapers of New York Johanna Glaza had a vision of what her music could be. Music like glass, intricate and fragile, different from every angle, but sharp and cutting when shattered.
Johanna’s first EP (November 2013) was a stepping-stone, it showed the arc of her melodies, the poise of her voice, her flights of fancy. The second EP, Letter to New York, is a bolder leap into the unknown. There is rich interplay here between the evocative vocals, flowing strings, layers of chimes, ephemeral drones, percussive backing vocals, and the growing confidence of her piano and ukulele.
An increasingly non-linear songwriter, Johanna fills her work with a depth of stirring choruses, unexpected bridges, and the surprising changes in dynamics exemplified by the movements of Letter to New York. Distance also represents a departure in song structure, written more like a Steve Reich loop than a traditional verse-chorus-verse pattern. The visceral Letter to New York, the relentless Distance, the ebb and flow of Tiger, and finally the sorrowful, plaintive descent into the Wonderland reflect disparate voices from the single shattered whole.
Never content to sit still, Johanna’s vision isn’t simply to create pretty music, or even emotional music, but to bring the listener with her, to immerse them in her unfamiliar world. Letter to New York represents an attempt to point out the direction of Johanna’s vision without arriving there completely, it’s a journey that’s well worth joining.
