A Sunny Day in Glasgow’s pop life

Ashes Grammar evolves from where Scribble Mural Comic Journal left off

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As the heavenly chorus that opens A Sunny Day in Glasgow’s second full-length, Ashes Grammar, fades into focus, it’s clear that something has changed for the Philadelphia-based dream pop explorers. Every note and nuance is brighter than the shoe-gaze hues, electronic/acoustic drones and noisy melancholy of their debut, Scribble Mural Comic Journal. Founding member Ben Daniels explains that the differences are less a matter of artistic intent than they are the result of extenuating circumstance. “I did the first record by myself in my apartment with one microphone and by plugging my guitar into my computer with no amps because I couldn’t bother my neighbors,” Daniels explains. “This time we rented a giant dance studio warehouse sort of thing to record. It’s a totally different approach when you can play really loudly while working out a song.”

Daniels and his twin sisters Lauren and Robin were the group’s core line-up for Scribble Mural.... But ASDIG is the brainchild of brother Ben. “When I started writing songs with melodies and words, I asked my sisters to sing because I can’t sing,” he adds. “They agreed, but their hearts weren’t into it. I kind of forced them to do it.”

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(Photo Courtesy Ever Nalens)