Artist of the Week: Glass Pear

Glass Pear is Welsh-born singer-songwriter Yestyn Griffiths. Having previously collaborated with his sister, Jem, on her popular debut and sophomore releases, Griffiths eventually decided to record tracks of his own. While his debut album, Streets of Love, is due in stores tomorrow, you may already recognize his voice from first single "Last Day Of Your Life." Mixed by Coldplay producer Danton Supple, the song has been featured in episodes of "Grey’s Anatomy" and "90210."

In a press release, Griffiths explained the story behind his stage name, Glass Pear:

"A lot of the songs I write are about the fragility and transiency of life and love. So I wanted to find a name that expressed that. Apparently the ancient Chinese believed that the pear was a symbol of immortality (pear trees live for a long time)," Griffiths said. "It’s also a symbol of affection in other cultures. In Chinese the word li means both 'pear' and 'separation' and for this reason, tradition says that to avoid a separation, friends and lovers should not divide pears between themselves. So for me a glass pear is a pear that is fragile, breakable, needing protection, just like love."

Streets of Love is a solid release filled with catchy, uplifting lyrics and moving musical accompaniment. On "Last Day Of Your Life," Griffiths sings, "If this was the last day of your life/What would you do to make things right?/If this was the last day of your life/Who you gonna call to make things right?"

The emotive lyrics combined with soaring guitar and string features leave an impact. Additionally, many of the tracks have piano interludes that bring to mind bands like Coldplay and The Fray while his introspective and questioning lyrics recall that of Switchfoot.

Standout track, "Streets of Love," is bound to get stuck in the listener's head. The most upbeat song on the album, Griffiths sings along fitting guitar and percussion beats, "Thinking of the one you love who doesn't know it just because/You're too afraid to be a fool again/People punch and people bruise on these streets of love/Stand up on your own two feet there's more to life than memories my friend."

While the album starts off slowly, with each repeated listen there is something new and unexpected. Griffiths' voice has that familiar and comforting quality to it as he confronts the confusion and heartache of life through continuous questioning within his songs. "What's the point of being human if we're not alive?" he asks on moving ballad, "Colours."

Ending with the captivating "My Ghost" (see video below), Griffiths proves his versatility as a singer-songwriter on his debut release. For more on Glass Pear, visit MySpace and if you like what you hear, be sure to pick up Streets of Love tomorrow.



Recommended: For fans of Coldplay, Radiohead, The Fray, Switchfoot, Better Than Ezra.