UK-based indie-rock duo New York Pavements have just dropped their energetic debut album Outside The Glasshouse, and these guys are definitely ready to rock.
Channeling the likes of The Stone Roses and The Arctic Monkeys (the early years), the album is oozing with jangling guitars, pulsating percussion, and hook-laden melodies throughout. Opening with previously released single “Slam The Door,” the listener is instantly teleported to the early noughties and the hey day of indie rock.
Vocalist Matt Bond’s distinctively gritty vocal adds further personality to the track, whilst producer Paul Brooking takes the swagger of the sixties creating a sound that is both curious and cathartic. Other stand out tracks on the album include “Brick Wall,” “Never Get The Better,” and “Monday Morning Rain,” all of=f which have a chorus you just know crowds would happily sing along to in live settings.
Outside The Glasshouse is a concept album with an accompanying photographic essay and DVD telling the story of one man’s downward spiral of divorce, redundancy, and rejection. It represents so many who struggle in their middle years—the age group with the highest prevalence of male suicide. The effect of the “male mid-life crisis” is devastating as it touches partners, mothers, lovers, and children. Outside The Glasshouse shines a light on this rarely discussed mental health condition which cuts through the heart of society.
Talking about the concept of the album, Paul elaborates, “writing and recording the album became a cathartic process, making me happier and more confident. I researched the often ridiculed male ‘mid-life crisis’ and found that this under-researched mental health condition had links to middle aged men taking their own lives. I spoke to as many men as I could and wrote the album around the stories they told me, creating the character of Jack and his struggles, his suicidal condition. and his eventual recovery.”
All profits from the album will go to suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club, one of the UK’s fastest growing mental health charities, which organizes free peer-to-peer support groups where men meet-up to open-up. This is an album that has obviously been carefully created with an important message to spread, while musically, those who have a soft spot in their hearts for some good old classic rock will definitely not be disappointed.
Outside The Glasshouse is in stores now.
