GLOSSOLALIA // NEW EP FROM JAKE BERRY

My friend Jake Berry has just released his debut EP, Glossolalia. It’s excellent! Jake is a massively talented singer-songwriter and I think his voice is as good as Jeff Buckley’s.

I’m giving away 5 FREE downloads to the first 5 people to comment on this blog post. (I’m currently getting spammed, so if this is your first comment, I will have to approve it before it goes live.)

You can listen to the EP at the bottom of this post.

I asked Jake a few questions to find out a bit more about his heart behind the release.

Cool name. What does it mean?

My new ep is titled ‘Glossolalia’ which means ‘speaking in tongues’ or a foreign spiritual language. I chose this to summarize that the ep is about conveying what I believe about the world by translating philosophical and spiritual dialogues into musical ones.

It could be said the EP is a bit ‘foreign’ or alternative musically. I’ve tried to make expensive warm sounding folk (as opposed to dirty or rootsy which I also like) imbued with jazz, electronic and ethereal sound nuances.

How has being a Christian influenced your music?

In regards to the philosophical and spiritual aspects, yes I’m a Christian, but I wasn’t trying to make a ‘Christian release’. This EP is just what comes out when I try to write music and I was just trying to be myself. In honesty, the spiritual dialogue in terms of Christian truth just came out naturally from my heart, tied to personal experiences, feelings and a desire to share truths I’ve been taught. I’m just a guy trying to make art, which happens to be influenced by my relationship with God because art is an expression of life lived.

What are some of the key themes in your songs?

There are a varietyThe songs have a few key themes I can name. The first is a reaction against popular culture. ‘Mysterious’ and ‘nowhere’ tracks express how I won’t follow popular culture and let it tell me what to believe, drink, do or act. I don’t think common culture leads people towards a God who really does love us, but instead pushes us away from him, making empty promises of fulfillment that will never deliver or make real sense. We should be conscious about which cultures we follow and how popular culture tries to indoctrinate us into its belief system. Songs ‘waiting room’ and ‘carousel’ speak about our temporal world and lives existentially. ‘Spinning Top’ and ‘We’ve been here before’ revolve more around personal experiences and people.

Where can we find you online?

I’ll post the lyrics soon to my Bandcamp page and Facebook if you’re interested in reading them. Like my page on Facey and tell me what you think. I’m also now on Sound Cloud and Triple J Unearthed.

Have a listen