Alanna Miller writesComing Attractions: “Found” by John Glacier

by Alanna Miller

If you, like many of us, celebrated Doechii’s 2024 release Alligator Bites Never Heal for its crystal clear, verbose delivery, then you should check out Ms. John Glacier.

Glacier, like Doechii, is a voracious and contemplative writer. Her lyrics are sophisticated and poetic, unrelenting and wise. Her rapping resembles a stream of consciousness, lines just seeming to tumble out of her like a faucet left on for too long.

Glacier, unlike Ms. Doechii, is a Londoner from Hackney and raps over British electronica beats to compose a delicious trip hop sound in the single “Found,” off her upcoming album, Like a Ribbon, the third full-length record in the artist’s collection.

“Found” is an introspective, cerebral song. Intelligent lyrics combine with UK electronica to form a sound that is just as good as a backing soundtrack to your day as it is deserving of a focused listen. The delicate keys overtop scratchy electronic samples creates a sound that I envision accompanying a techy, glitchy robot ballet.

A patient, confident drum beat grounds the song and keeps things danceable. Kwes Darko, best known for his work with Sampa the Great and slowthai, produced and mixed Like a Ribbon. This is Darko’s second collaboration with Glacier, having also produced Glacier’s EP of the same name, released in 2024 (Just one track, “Tripsteady,” appears on the EP but not the new LP).

The lyrics are somewhat predictable for an artist feeling the pressure of a third album release. In “Found,” Glacier humbly relishes her newfound success and fame while recognizing that a meteoric rise does not beget a problem-free life.

The song opens with, “Whole world at my feet/ Me when I step out,” situating the track within the context of her boundless potential. The lyric, “The gone days are gone/ If they’re not, then we get ‘round it,” somewhat tests the limits of that good fortune and hints that not everything is rosy for Glacier.

But with the line, “Anyhow, any means, how I get founded,” Glacier assures us that she’s not just an artist with hype, but a performer with the mental fortitude to tolerate the bullsh*t that accompanies her rising profile.

The positivity in Glacier’s poetry pairs well with the uplifting piano performance. Perhaps the most touching part of the song is when Glacier raps, “You found me and I think I’ve found you,” a tender moment when her voice breaks in an otherwise steady vocal delivery.

But my favorite lyric of the song is when she says, “Green grass where the grass never knew/ We dance and we laugh at the moon.” It recalls the scene in Dazed and Confused when Matthew McConaughey and his entourage of high school seniors gather at their football stadium for one last late-night hurrah on the field, surrounded by turf and moonlight. You know it.

That’s when McConaughey blessed the zeitgeist with the line, “You just gotta keep livin man, L-I-V-I-N.” It’s totally corny but resonant nonetheless. Send Like A Ribbon to your valentine if you want to move them; the album comes to us on February 14th this year.