Playing to Vapors – A Glitch in a Void

By Ryan G

The EP is deceptively mellow at first, but later explodes in your face. Then you realize it was exploding all along. You just weren’t paying attention at first. Or rather, you were so overwhelmed by the unexpected vibes that you overlooked what’s right under your nose.

This is my story in relation to this EP.

Having seen Playing to Vapors live what feels like countless times now (though nothing in comparison to their manager April Kulscar – man, this is the second time this evening I’ve given her a shout out in a write up!) and watched their well produced trailer, I pressed play on A Glitch in a Void expecting to be nearly physically tossed backward by walls of sound reverberating. The intro, titled “Fragments,” did little to dispel my anticipation.

We’re met by a wall of sound indeed. But it’s not super loud. “You Never Seem Sorry When You’re Gone,” “Whisper,” and “Just Fine With Me” are a trifecta of tunes that show off in a way that allows you to pick up something new each time you listen. The songs aren’t anticlimatic at all – in fact as I was listening through the EP a roommate was doing pull ups to Muse’s HAARP live video in the background. All of the sudden, the Playing to Vapors songs took on a new feel to them. I was a bit hesitant to type this because some people view a “cheerleader blog” as less credible – but hear me out. I found myself picturing the guys onstage in that stadium. Not only that, but earlier The Glitch Mob had been playing in the background. The visuals were oddly fitting to what I was hearing from this EP as well!

An explosion of more conventional means does arrive though, and it does so on “Giant Conspiracy,” a song that has long been a live favorite of both the band and fans. Luke’s voice is stronger than ever, and the tightness of how everything mixes together here is an assault of the best kind. Expect to hear this in arenas.

“Ghost Hunter” was previously discussed here by our writer Sandeep. But if for SOME REASON you haven’t heard it yet, you’ll be a believer in the EP if you oddly aren’t yet at this point.

A Glitch in a Void delivers in unexpected ways what will sometimes deliver a nice dose of the feels, and other times wow you of the band’s ability to craft something so intricate yet cohesive. Did I mention this EP was all self-produced and mixed?

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/200766698″ /]