Like so many others, my music of choice hinges directly on the temperature outside. Sunnier indie pop dominates my turntable and headphones from April to September while bucolic folk helps me deal with the changing colors of leaves and the sharp plummets of thermometers. Once winter settles in, however, droning, pensive ambient music becomes my main coping mechanism. There’s something immeasurable about the serenity experienced watching snow fall while synth chords progress slowly in the background, and I’ve stockpiled enough albums to get me through a dozen blizzards. One of this year’s staples will definitely be Glacier, the latest full-length from Canadian electronic artist Teen Daze.
Teen Daze was birthed at the tail-end of both Myspace and the chillwave movement, perhaps slightly poor timing as some early tracks embodied that waning aesthetic. The creative force behind Teen Daze has always retained a shred of anonymity – divulging his Christian name, Jamison, though never his surname – but he maintains a Tumblr with very detailed, self-aware posts about the construction of his music. Though the project began with a college kid using some recording software on his laptop, it became clear that there was true potential in the songwriting of Teen Daze, a potential that was fully realized on Glacier.
As a celebration of the album’s one-year anniversary, Jamison recently compiled a rather exhausting first-hand account of the significance of Glacier and its recording process, so there’s not much left to the imagination. What can be taken away from Glacier however, partially due to admissions made in his reflection, is that Teen Daze’s conceptual approach to songwriting is maturing at an alarming rate. To craft two fully-formed concepts is one feat, but to condense and blend them into one cohesive sound is entirely another. Songs on Glacier flow seamlessly from one aesthetic to the other, with “Ice On The Windowsill” and “Forest At Dawn” functioning as the centerpieces of Jamison’s electronic and ambient thought processes, respectively.
Four B-sides were recorded and released with the Japanese version of Glacier, and I think they represent the duality of the album in a more rapid succession. “Leaf Canopy” and “Forest At Dusk” retain the most momentum while “Sunrise” pulsates at a placid pace, bookended by slow, droning chord progressions. “Piano Room” is on par with “Walk” for being one of the most ambient-leaning offerings recorded during the Glacier sessions, its barebones structure and instrumentation possibly indebted to the minimalism of Grouper and certainly to the soundscapes of Brian Eno. I’m not sure where they would have been placed had they been included in the album’s track list, but the four B-sides serve as a wonderful addendum to Glacier, one that is necessary to digest in order to fully appreciate its concepts.
Soft cadential points, trebly droning synths, and choral whispers comprise the salient features of Glacier, a trifecta that earns the album a slot in this (and future) winter’s musical rotation. The 808 sizzles and light guitar work breathes familiarity and warmth into Teen Daze’s sound, perhaps why this record resonated with me so much out of season, soundtracking my summer travels across Norway. I’m excited to revisit Glacier as the autumnal chill segues into winter’s frost and to see if any new, previously unnoticed textures begin to prevail. I suggest you do the same.
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Sam also writes for the excellent Dimestore Saints.