The solo instrumental project of English musician (and brain injury survivor) Ashley Owens, The Glass Pavilion makes for an absolutely enchanting and entrancing journey in Owens’ latest full length recording. The entirely electronically produced record incorporates a myriad of styles and sounds to craft a final project that’s more akin to post-rock and shoegaze than anything synth dominant. There’s a feeling imbued to each piece, a distinctive voice that’s hidden behind the instrumental arrangements that Owens has so painstakingly put together with meticulous composition. From the dreary and minimalist opener that is Lighthouse I to the absolutely mesmerizing magnum opus at the album’s end, ‘When the Blazing Sun is Gone’ doesn’t relent in drawing it’s listener in to a state of absolute bliss.
Back in 2017, Ashley was making out a career as a singer-guitarist but his ambitions to continue were quickly fading. He’d been making bedroom recordings of his own songs sporadically for more than a decade without ever hitting the point where he felt his material was worth releasing. It was then that a ruptured aneurysm in his brain caused a near-fatal haemorrhage. Luckily, Owens is still with us today and has recovered without suffering symptoms that are painstakingly adverse. However, a loss of right hand co-ordination was enough to force him off playing the guitar.
Three years since, Owens had to deal with multiple operations as doctors arduously went about repairing damaged vessels in his brain. The entire process and struggle compelled him to quit playing music altogether. However after a fourth unsuccessful procedure in January of 2020 and the loss of his father soon after, Owens decided it was time to get back to music despite his inability to play the instrument he backed himself on.
Completely shifting his style, giving up on singing and lyrics altogether as well as the guitar, Owens now works with a small MDI keyboard and a laptop. The resulting album is a lusciously atmospheric and shimmering piece of instrumental sounds that draw from an internal darkness but glow into a record that beautifully evokes the brilliance of life.