Ani Glass discusses new album, Phantasmagoria

Stephen Price

Award-winning singer-songwriter, Ani Glass, has launched her ‘futuristic, fascinating’ new album ‘Phantasmagoria’ today, featuring songs in Welsh, Cornish and English.

Fittingly, Ani’s debut LP ‘Mirores’ (translates as “observer”) was based around movement and progress. It was her first foray into the self-taught art of recording and production. Ani Glass has not stopped progressing or moving since.

Inspired by working with Martin Rushent as a member of indiepop group, The Pipettes, a strong pop sensibility was cemented as a member of the band, Genie Queen (managed by OMD’s Andy McCluskey). Additional inspirations included 1980s artists and producers Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and Arthur Russell (who inspired her to learn the cello).

At the start of 2020, just before the release of ‘Mirores’, Ani was diagnosed with a rare benign brain tumour. The diagnosis marked the beginning of the personal journey that has shaped ‘Phantasmagoria’. That final shape is a lush, introspective concept album that delves deeply into her experience of navigating life since then.

Phantasmagoria unites the languages and mediums at Ani’s disposal to express a poignant time in her life, with lyrics in Cymraeg (Welsh), Kernewek (Cornish) and English, as well as some British Sign Language woven into her live performance.

Futuristic, fascinating pop. Ethereal vocals, lush instrumentation and swirling synth pulses echo early Goldfrapp or Enya, but this is all Ani Glass. Phantasmagoria is intricate, ethereal, expansive – and newly revealing with every listen.

Ahead of the album’s release, Ani spoke to Nation Cymru to discuss all things Phantasmagoria.

Congratulations on the new album – how did you find the recording process this time around?

Thank you very much! I’m really proud of this work. I produced my first album alone and although I really enjoyed the process, I wanted to try something different this time. I co-produced Phantasmagoria alongside the fantastic Iwan Morgan. It was really wonderful to have another set of ears to work with – I felt that it really added to the dynamics.

The release comes on the back of Mirores, which in itself came from one of the most difficult times in your life – how does this new work relate to where you are today?

I’d describe Phantasmagoria as more of a journey than a concept album and what’s really nice about that is that I can listen back to some of the songs knowing that those deeper and darker emotions expressed in them have mostly passed or eased. That’s been one of the most rewarding parts of writing this album.

Phantasmagoria is one hell of a title – tell us more about why you came to use this, and how it binds the whole piece together…

The title itself came from a documentary that I was watching about Peggy Guggenheim – I think she said the word at some point? But in effect, it represents the dream-like hazy state that I was in for a period after I was diagnosed with a rare benign brain tumour and I just liked the way it sounded.

Kernewek

The album features Welsh, English and, perhaps surprisingly for some, Cornish – was this a natural decision to write/record in more than one language?

Absolutely! Welsh and Cornish are my first languages and so the language balance on the album more or less represents how much of those languages I speak day to day. I don’t think too much about which language to write in when I’m composing, it’s whatever feels the most natural at that particular time.

Like all the best music, the album is very coherent and feels unified, was that important for you being on the production side of the fence?

Thank you very much – that’s very kind of you to say. I think that although the album is quite dynamic sonically (which is a good thing I think but can be tricky sometimes in terms of managing coherency) it’s pulled together by the themes that are based on a particular experience.

I also think that visuals play a strong role in generating that sense of coherence.

With the music released, and tour dates trickling out, what can fans expect with your live sets?

My live sets have developed a fair amount since I released Mirores.

For this album I have some visuals which are very important to me – they include the lyrics and translations for each song in order to make the performances more accessible for deaf people.

My beautiful baby was born profoundly deaf and so this has had a significant impact on how I want to present my music.

Having these visuals is my way of ensuring that, should she want to in the future, my baby and other deaf people will be able to engage and interact with the performances.

Tour dates