Intern’s Corner
Glaive is an emerging artist known for blending elements of pop, alternative, and emo music into a distinctive sound. With emotionally charged lyrics and catchy melodies, he has quickly gained a following, resonating with listeners through themes of love, heartbreak, and self-discovery.
His unique style and youthful energy have positioned him as a prominent figure in the contemporary music scene. At just 19 years old, his youth makes him relatable to his fanbase, and his ever-evolving style makes him stand out.
Glaive’s evolution as an artist thus-far is more than most artists could wish they could forge their style throughout their entire careers, let alone just three years. He has successfully tried out multiple genres while doing them in his own style.
Glaive burst onto the scene with the critically acclaimed album Cypress Grove, which played a role in helping hyperpop gain more traction. The album was more focused on his vocal performances and storytelling over hyperpop instrumentals. When compared to 100 Gecs and other popular hyperpop artists of that year, this album provided a more accessible introduction into the hyperpop space, as it had some familiar qualities of other genres to new listeners.
Glaive continued to push his style in his next album, All dogs go to heaven, which was a mix of alternative and hyperpop. His third studio album, I care so much that i don’t care at all, saw glaive go fully into the indie/alternative/post-punk space in his most personal album to date (although it is not uncommon to see Glaive dive into his personal experiences).
All of this leads us to October 11, 2024, when Glaive releases May It Never Falter. In the months preceding this album, Glaive took to Twitter and Instagram to post snippets from this album. The snippets seemed all over the place, with some art-folk, Quadeca inspired pieces, some gritty hyperpop cuts, and some ballads.
Fans were conflicted on how this album would sound. The general consensus was that Glaive was due for a slump, or this could be “Glaive’s Yeezus” and would be ultra-experimental and maybe not received well at first. The conversation shifted in a much different direction after the album’s release.
May It Never Falter is Glaive showing the growth he has made as an artist. Although there are several different genres packed into this album, it generally stays within the bounds of hyperpop, art-pop, and some folk ballads. This may be Glaaive’s most complete album despite all of the moving pieces, as it provides the listener with a holistic experience that keeps you guessing on the direction it will go next.
“For God and Country” is a spectacular intro to this album, as Glaive talks about overcoming depression and suicide attempts to become the confident artist he is today. The song has a terrific climax with epic rising synths and bass, and transitions beautifully into the next song “60.000 ISK,” which is a hyperpop banger and a major highlight on this album, containing tremendous energy and an instrumental that feels like it is ripping through your speakers.
“Ik” is a catchy, moody pop song with afrobeat drums that could easily be a radio hit. The album hits its only low point soon after this with “Live & Direct.” It is a surprising inclusion to this album, being a lazily produced hip-hop song featuring an uninspired Kurtains verse, but the album swiftly picks back up after this song.
The next three songs are some of Glaive’s best, back to back to back. “EVERYDOG HAS ITS DAY” is another hyperpop song full of energy with perfectly crispy synths that serves as a great pick-me-up for the back half of this album. This song leads into “Freudian” which is a hip-hop inspired song with a catchy, funky chorus delivered expertly by Glaive, put over a dank atmosphere. “Nobody’s Fault / Accept My Own” is the penultimate song on this album, and a highlight of Glaive’s discography as a whole. Glaive has a terrific vocal performance on this song that is full of anguish, while talking about forgiving himself for his past transgressions upon others and himself. The song is sad, yet
