Oddly describing themselves as a rock and roll band from Zurich, Gletscher aren’t really anything of the sort. Their highly polished sound, whilst conscientiously executed, follows the path of art rock almost to excess with many a song escaping into indulgence at the expense of both structure and emotion.
What emotion there is resides in the appealingly oddball and somewhat underused vocals of Joileah Concepcion who brings life to those words that she is allowed to sing. Witness her foray into folk stylings that brings ethereal meaning to “Empire” but, even then, her efforts are undermined by her two cohorts who circle the musical campfire time and time again until your patience is exhausted and your interest is lost.
It is something of a pity when such obviously competent musicians seem to have spent their time pretending to be a studio created loop rather than creating music that might actually connect with the listener.