The world does not lack news about the ongoing climate crisis. News outlets and advocates are vocal about the impending threats that ignorance of the state of environmentalism will bring to fruition. What the world does lack is examples of creative means by which to express these fears, and Seth Glier is here to fill that void.
Glier has taken his gifts as a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and explored the many aspects of what that career path has to offer. He worked as a cultural diplomat for the U.S. Department of State and collaborated with musicians in Ukraine, Mongolia, China and Mexico. He has written with the students in Parkland, Florida, for the “Parkland Project,” co-written with soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and is an advocate for autism awareness. Glier has shared the concert bill with Ronnie Spector, James Taylor, Ani DiFranco, Glen Campbell and more. In his capacity as a producer, music director and studio musician, he has collaborated with Sophie B. Hawkins, Dar Williams, Cyndi Lauper and many others.
In addition to this list of accomplishments, Glier is an avid mushroom forager. His experiences with that pastime are what inspired his new full-length studio album to be released Jan. 26, titled “EVERYTHING.”
On the inception of the album’s title, Glier said in a press release, “When I picked up the chanterelle mushroom and brought it towards my nose, I first smelled sweet apricot and then my spine straightened suddenly. The feeling was like déjà vu. It was a first time, yet somewhere inside of me I had done this once before. I was reconnecting to a knowledge I had already known.”
The mission of the album is to encourage the mutual restoration between humanity and the planet it resides on, and Glier utilizes no subtlety in achieving that purpose. There’s no mistaking Glier’s intentions with his songs, as he lays everything out obviously and bluntly. Each song on the album provides a practical solution to the climate crisis, supported by unrelenting optimism.
Glier’s new EP, titled “Mammoth," precedes the upcoming album with great promise. Two of the songs, "Rise" and "Finally Home," were released earlier this fall, and complement the other two tracks nicely. “Rise" demonstrates Glier’s unbeatable musical imagery, as well as his sense of hope and energy.
"Finally Home," featuring Crys Matthews, introduces an entirely new style to the collection of songs. It’s a jazz number, replete with a swinging bass line and dissonant vocals that align with the genre. The song is both a demonstration of his ability to produce complex rhyming and lyrical verses, as well as a commentary on regenerative farming.
"Witches of the Wind" is a newly released track, and it drives home Glier's penchant for folk music. The use of harmonies and guitars allows Glier’s understanding of music theory to shine, while not allowing the technicality to impede on the core of the song. It features an electronic edge, an affecting chorus and a chaotic culmination of voices to finish.
The lead single and title track of the EP explores the following questions: “What if you were brought back to life and found yourself in a world you could no longer recognize?” and “What if you learned the reason you were resurrected was to save humanity?” Glier sings the song from the perspective of a woolly mammoth who is brought back to life by scientists.
“Scientists Sergey Zimov and Nikita Zimov are in the process of picking through the ice and melting permafrost of northern Siberia for the perfect frozen sample of a Woolly Mammoth. Their goal is to take the DNA and bring the mammoth back to the plains it once roamed. There is some merit to this idea as a climate solution. The Permafrost is one of the largest carbon reservoirs we have. In the grazing ecosystems, mammoths trample snow while foraging during the winter. When the snow is packed beneath their significant weight, it allows deeper freezing of the permafrost and thus protects it from degradation,” Glier said.
"Mammoth" is an ambient song that includes distorted outdoor noises. The song is scientific but never strays too far from its humanity. “Took my double helix from the permafrost / I remember all the friends I’ve lost” is the perfect demonstration of that lyrical technique. The whole song sounds like a sheet of delicate ice, which is a testament to Glier’s talent for musical imagery. His voice never loses its calmness, but also drips with a quiet passion and intensity.
The song is accompanied by a slow-paced music video that immerses watchers in the icy blues of the permafrost, glinting greens of the Northern Lights and brief browns of a beast's fur. The video allows audiences the empathy to truly experience the song from the perspective that Glier intended.
The album that the "Mammoth" EP precedes will spread hope and awareness of an important narrative. Glier encourages his listeners to expand their minds and reconnect with the sacred parts of the earth that are ingrained within everyone who inhabits it. Above all else, Glier utilizes his songwriting as a tool to create change and remind his followers that the future is open to influence.
