Even before the release of her debut project SHILOH: Lost For Words, Hackney-born rapper, producer and poet John Glacier has been a totemic force in London’s hallowed rap scene. Standout collaborations with the likes of Babyfather and LYAM instilled her promise, while her first project compounded it; a surreal, diaristic daydream through the inner-psyche of one of UK music’s most beguiling minds. Alongside becoming the face of Daniel Lee’s first global campaign for Burberry and walking for Marine Serre at Fashion Week, Glacier also began to gain notoriety globally, working with in-demand NY production team Surf Gang on a spontaneous collaborative project, JGSG, last year. Glacier announced her signing to Young (The xx/FKA twigs/Sampha) last month with the entrancing, post-punk leaning ‘Money Shows’; an Eartheater-featuring cut that proved to be the perfect introduction to Like A Ribbon, Glacier’s new EP, which finally releases today.
Executive produced by Kwes Darko, Like A Ribbon is a direct reaction to the soul-searching, introspective flows of John Glacier’s SHILOH: Lost For Words project. A reflection of how her life has progressed since the 2021 release, Like A Ribbon finds John Glacier writing music to embody the energy of live performance, delving further into otherworldly atmospheres and hypnotic flows. Never sacrificing the deeply personal lyricism that typified her previous work, tracks like ‘Tripsteady’ and the Kwes Darko produced ‘Emotions’ swathe Glacier’s life experience in metaphor over the top of dizzying production that builds on the unique universe that John has been synthesizing since the beginning of her career. Flume’s production turn on ‘Nevasure’ provides a stunning crescendo to the project, with its stark, spacious instrumental providing the perfect backing for John Glacier’s internal monologue while in the throes of a social event, while tracks like ‘Satellite’ and ‘Money Shows’ uncover a more guitar-led, mesmerizing facet to John’s relentless desire to push her sonic palette into new, unexplored territories.
John Glacier’s Like A Ribbon is a five-track expansion on the ever-inviting world that she has hinted on within her previous work. Featuring production from the likes of Flume and Kwes Darko, the EP paints a vibrant portrait of an artist who is truly loyal to her roots, thrust into a fantastical world while trying to make sense of her own thoughts and newfound surroundings. Easily her most diverse work to date, the project places John in a sonic space completely unique to her; raw, poetic and markedly dynamic. Like A Ribbon is another bold chapter in the all-enveloping story of John Glacier – one you’ll wish to return to again and again.
See what the press is saying….
“The producer-vocalist’s esoteric streams of consciousness mark her out as a major new voice” – The Guardian
“The rapper with renegade blood whose bars contain multitudes – past, present and future” – Dazed
“John Glacier’s confessional dictaphone raps sound like intimate notes to self, intended for one listener only.” – Pitchfork
“There’s a sense that Glacier won’t remain a hidden treasure for much longer.” – Crack
(Young)
OUT NOW
- Satellite
- Tripsteady
- Money Shows ft. Eartheater
- Emotions
- Nevasure
John Glacier
