Glass Beams

Between the beaded masks and instrumental earworms, Glass Beams cut a striking figure when emerging from Melbourne in 2020. A creation of multi-instrumentalist and producer Rajan Silva, Glass Beams has remained otherwise anonymous, simply letting the slinky fusion of traditional Indian pop and head-nodding Western breaks do the talking. The results evoke Ravi Shankar’s crossover-friendly ragas as much as Khruangbin’s rolling psych-funk, with the 2021 debut EP Mirage sounding both subtly ethereal and ripe for sampling and reinterpretation. Signing to international powerhouse Ninja Tune, Glass Beams had already booked big-time overseas tours and headline slots by the time of 2024’s Mahal EP. Between the spidery guitar licks, ultra-taut bass grooves, and dusty-sounding drumming, the unique intersection of influences translate into something deeply personal yet joyously universal.