Album Review: glentheband – The Function Of Infinity

The Function Of Infinity by glentheband is an easy album to love but harder one to analyse or critique. The primary reason for the latter becomes obvious once you learn about Glen himself.

He has a Master’s in Music Tech from NYU but spent years playing classic rock, pop-punk, and melodic death metal, which leaves its mark on the alt/indie/garage fusion that makes up the heart and soul of The Function Of Infinity. The band started with Glen, but the Canadian project soon became a quintet and conceived the album in a studio he had built in his basement.

Even where the album ventures into rock territory, on tracks like The Way You See Me, the group finds a novel and enjoyable way to express it. You can hear that on the opener, Tired, where the dramatic textures and lyrics evolve into a sensitive exploration of manhood and relationships.

The song structures hark back to rock bands: the melodies and arrangement carry hints of Ghost – most notably on You Never Loved Me – Queen, and Pink Floyd at various points, and classic rock of the 70s and 80s too – the latter finds itself driving Just Be. They all become part of the group’s distinctive sound, however.

While I found a lot of enjoyment in reliving parts of my own past in those moments, they don’t drive the textures that flow through the album’s nine songs; instead, they have their own distinctive and cohesive quality, threaded through with delicious vocal harmonies.

That’s in part down to the rhythm section’s often using motifs that appear to be referencing jazz and funk, adapting them to musical themes of the album. I have to say that the guitar solo on the expansive Over The Water got me grabbing my air guitar, wanting to be part of the track’s blending of emotive vocals and vulnerable lyrics.

My advice is don’t try to figure out what makes the album work; just embrace the magic spell it weaves and lose yourself in the words and music. Much of that magic is in how the band draws those disparate elements together to create an album that doesn’t quite sound like anyone else, but has flickers of familiarity that will leave you in a state of musical bliss.   

“This album wasn’t supposed to be a grand debut,” says Glen. “We went in just trying to figure out who we are as a band. Nine songs, and each one was written around one specific feeling – not a theme, just a feeling.”

“Fever is fear. The Way You See Me is that need to be seen and validated. Tired is exactly what it sounds like – that slow burn frustration that just sits in your chest. We weren’t trying to make a perfect record. We were trying to make an honest one.”

The Function Of Infinity was released on the 29th of May and can be heard on Spotify and is available to download on Bandcamp. Follow the Mississauga, Ontario, band on Instagram for more streaming options for the album.