MUSIC REVIEW: THROUGH THE EYES OF A WOMAN

Glenn Suravech, guitarist for L.A.-based band Visiting Violette, produces a bold new cross-genre album featuring fresh artists from across the nation.

by JENNIFER CHANG, Founding Editor

The mainstream music industry as of late has been criticized for having forced itself into a creative rut. With online music providers like iTunes offering listeners the option of only nabbing the radio-ready singles off of each new album, producers nationwide have been facing pressures to make sure as many songs off of any given album as possible feature universally-palatable pop sounds. Any music aficionado will attest to the steady decline of variety in the world of pop, rock, and r&b, and lament the steady takeover of radio airwaves by songs that are increasingly formulaic.

The task of pushing the envelope in music has fallen to the fresher faces – the singers, musicians and producers who have yet to associate themselves with major record labels. And joining the ranks of envelope pushers is Glenn Suravech, who has adopted the production name, “Mosaic” to release a promising debut album, “Through the Eyes of a Woman”

Though the album marks the debut of Glenn as a music producer, he is by no means a newcomer to the music industry. Prior to obtaining his Certificate in Recording Engineering from the University of California Los Angeles, Glenn worked as an audio engineer at Groove Masters Studio in Santa Monica and studied under such illustrious producers as Andrew Scheps (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park) and Pablo Munguia (Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake), among several other big names. Additionally, he has worked with Steve Durkee (Prince, Janet Jackson), and has been the guitarist for Los Angeles-based pop band Visiting Violette. The range of his experiences and influences manifests itself in the diverse sounds to be found on “Through the Eyes of a Woman,”appropriately, a cross-genre album.

Glenn began the project with the great resources he had on hand - the circle of artists/musicians that he knew and had always wanted to work with. "I've worked with them in varying capacities -- as an engineer or as a musician. This is the first time I functioned as producer with each of
them," he elaborates. "Half of the music for this album was already written and so I started throwing tracks out to some of these singers and what I was getting back was amazing. So I thought that an album featuring women would be an interesting first project."

In all, the resulting album features 10 original tracks co-written and performed by independent recording artists from Albuquerque, Phoenix, Berkeley, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles. The product is a refreshing jaunt into and across pop, new age, electronica, and jazz—each unique track vastly different from the previous and the next.

Highlights from the album include a song by Cameo Hill called “Your Heart”—a song that begins as a soft, intimate, and moving tune, played on a piano, then picks up with steady percussion that gives way to full-on rock guitar accompaniment. Other notable tracks are “Good Enough” by Kato—a song with a jazzy and mellow sound that metamorphoses into something with more complex layers (reminiscent of a Dido song) —and “No Philosophy” by Alice Tong, who possesses an earthy quality to her voice. “No Philosophy,” unlike the previous two tracks mentioned, ventures more into electronica and new age, with a touch of lounge rounding out the song.

Says Glenn of the experience of working as a producer on this album, "I learned a lot about coaching and trying to get good performances out of a singer. A good producer, in my opinion, is transparent. I like to make sessions feel less like work and more about enjoying the process and
being in the moment."

Other artists that Glenn coached and featured on the album are Simon, Melody Butiu, Jenny Yang, Nicole de Jesus, Tristin, Lee Takasugi, and Jenny San Angel.

“Through the Eyes of a Woman” will be available on iTunes and CD Baby, but before then, will be launching at a world premiere event held on Sunday, August, 12, 1 PM, at the Palmer Room in West Los Angeles. This event will host a luncheon and performances by three of the album's 10 artists.

And if you, by unfortunate happenstance or apathy, cannot be present for the album launch and don’t give the tracks a listen on iTunes, keep your eyes open for more from Glenn Suravech, who, while preparing for the launch of his first album, already has six tracks for his second album written. He’s one music producer to watch.