Since announcing their ‘Mahal’ EP a little over 4 weeks ago, things have shown little sign of slowing down for enigmatic trio Glass Beams. The titular lead single has been streamed more than 5 million times, with 2.4 million plays and counting on their “Mahal (Live)” performance video, and an ever-climbing peak of over 1 million monthly listeners and counting across Spotify. Teaser clips of unreleased music from the EP garnered multiple millions of organic views and saw their social media followings increase exponentially, adding almost half a million new followers on Instagram alone — an incredible feat considering they had a few thousand followers only months ago.
It’s a remarkable story for a band with, as of today, just two EPs to their name, and very little even known about their members or origins. The genesis for the Melbourne-based trio, which formed around founding member Rajan Silva, was through the rekindling of childhood memories relating to his father, who emigrated to Melbourne from India in the late 1970s. Silva recalled watching a DVD on repeat with his father; ‘Concert for George’, a star-studded tribute to late Beatles member George Harrison performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2002, featuring legendary Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar with daughter Anoushka, alongside Western icons Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and ELO’s Jeff Lynne. This intersection of musical styles was reflected in the record collection of Silva’s father, where the sounds of iconic Bollywood vocalists Asha Bhosle and the Mangeshkar lineage sat alongside music from blues legends like B.B. King and Muddy Waters. In particular, Silva was drawn to the fusion of Western musical styles and traditional Indian music; a concept pioneered by Indian artists like R.D. Burman, Ananda Shankar, and fraternal duo Kalyanji-Anandji.
This cross-pollination of East and West, of old and new, is a sentiment that the band have sought to capture in their self-produced works. Across their output, Glass Beams presents a timeless fusion of cultures and sounds beamed through a prism of live instrumentation and DIY electronica, all wrapped up inside a mesmerizing and mystical visual world of their own making.
Their debut EP ‘Mirage’, released in 2021 catapulted them into the collective consciousness of new followers who came to discover their serpentine, psychedelic-tinged tracks through social media, streaming services and word of mouth, with the vinyl copies selling-out as quickly as it could be pressed via grassroots record store support.
In the wake of the unexpected success of their debut release and an abundance of festival invitations, Glass Beams were amplified around the globe performing hypnotic renditions of the ‘Mirage’ EP alongside an additional 20 minutes of unreleased music. Early clips of these “unreleased tracks” quickly began circulating online garnering millions of views and a fast-growing and ever-hungry following. As 2023 drew to a close and the dust settled after a whirlwind of touring, Glass Beams retreated to their home studio to record this much anticipated 20 minutes of music now titled ‘Mahal’.
‘Mahal’ EP is out digitally today and out on vinyl May 17th on Ninja Tune. The band have also released a 20 minute film comprising live versions of all the tracks on the EP.
‘Mahal’ Tracklist:
- Horizon
- Mahal
- Orb
- Snake Oil
- Black Sand