Restore Factory Settings
Glasshouse
Tackling serious subject matter in popular song is always a risk. A lot of listeners just want to be transported away by clouds of fluffy substance-free sonic éclairs and care little about a song’s true intent. The music of Glasshouse is very different from this superficial approach. Yes on the outside there are soaring melodies and perfectly placed instrumentation but lend an ear to the lyrics and the message behind those lyrics and there are deep thoughts and observations about the almost disposable society that we now live in. I got in touch with band member Dan James to get some comments about the band’s new long-player, Restore Factory Settings. As you will find out from the comments below, this engaging music is anything but superfluous throwaway pop.

Last Regret
“I love the drum sound in this track, we recorded it in a huge orchestra room and you can really hear the beautiful room sound when Matt plays the drums on this track. We also really went out of our way to get weird bass and guitar sounds for this song because when the record opens we wanted people to feel bewildered by the sounds. It fits into the lyric theme of the song, which is one of feeling old and unable to perform. The lyrics last regret is the final act that you always put off, knowing that it is the one act that will get your life moving. It is an attempt to break free of all constraints and find hope. We also invented a word for this song. See if you can find it.”
One In Five 
“This song kicks in with a heavy thumping beat and an ominous tone. The lyrics were inspired by our drummer’s discussions on culling the world’s population to solve its problems. The selection process should be random but should not include the rich as they can buy their way out of it for a measly 500,000. This way we solve environmental problems and give a decent boost to the economy. It's a win win situation... Unless you're selected.”
Just So
“This is a song that has a less upbeat tone than the last two songs, it is about our feelings on the world in general walking around with a blindfold. If we cover our eyes then nothing is happening, if it makes us feel sad then we shouldn't think about it. WAKE UP! It's probably too late but you should all try and improve the world for someone other than yourself for a change.”
Some Kind Of Rescue 
“I cut my finger doing guitar during the E-bow tracking of this song. (See if you understand that!) This song is about the strange ideal of forced democracy, as far as I can tell forcing democracy isn't a democracy at all, it's a dictatorship. There is however a way around that problem; you just tell everyone that you are rescuing the country from the hands of another evil dictator that is far more evil than you. It seems simplistic but it works.”
These Machines 
“This is one the heavy songs on the record, it is about the human tendency to be lazy and use machines to do all their work. What if the machines don't want to work? What if they rebel? What's wrong with an over-active imagination? As a band we copped a lot of criticism for the big production on our last EP. As a result, we decided to put a seventeen-piece orchestra on this track as a sort of fuck off to anyone who thinks Australian bands don't deserve to sound big. I also went mad looking for weird guitar effects to make this song sound like a mechanical army coming to destroy the earth. Every weird sound on this song was made with a guitar.”
Take Tomorrow 
“If you listen to the Morse code in the second verse of this song it spells out S.O.S. We didn't have a Morse code tappy thing for the recording so we figured out a way to do it on a guitar. The song was written while I was at some mind numbing job lamenting the fact that I had chosen a pathetic pay check over attending the union strikes to fight unfair trade laws. I very much felt on that day that I had sold my life and given the future to a more motivated bunch of evil bastards...”
SOS 
“This is a song about trying to shake off baggage. No matter how much you shake you always seem to be dragging someone or something along with you. I think that Matt and the Raven put in an awesome performance in this song. This is one of my favourite songs to play live because we spend around ten-minutes hypnotically jamming with weird noises during the middle of this piece, it is really something to experience because we are engrossed in another world when we perform this song.”
Only Cold 
“Stew is the singer for this song and I feel a little small when I hear my best friend sing like this. The vocal on this song really tears me apart. I also had a lot of fun recording this track because we used a mic in a tin can for the guitar sound. Sooo cool. We also used a Hammond organ and spent time making some really industrial drum sounds with this one.”
Disappointment
“One of the other heavy songs on the record, this is a song that deals with a close friend of mine and his relationship with an easily disappointed father.”
This City
“Our producer is playing on this track with his electric sitar which I think is one of the coolest sounds on the record. We went all out with this song because it was always going to be the closer for the record. We used sitars, Rhodes keyboards, rotating speakers and layers of guitar to make a song that could leave a lasting impression for the record. The lyrical content deals with turning your back while humanity crumbles away and eats itself to death.”
Thanks Dan. Restore Factory Settings is in stores now.
Rob Hudson
www.glasshouseband.com