On his third full-length release, The Imposter, London-based Irish-Iranian songwriter-producer Glassio (Sam R.) delivers his most vulnerable and self-defined work to date. Known for his shimmering “melancholy-disco” sound that has garnered over 25 million streams and a dedicated fanbase across the globe, Glassio has long occupied a distinctive space between indie-electronic escapism and emotional introspection. But where earlier releases leaned into euphoric release, The Imposter turns inward, peeling back persona to reveal something rawer, steadier, and ultimately more enduring.
Written after a transatlantic relocation from New York to London and in the wake of newfound sobriety, the album feels like a self-portrait in motion. Across 13 tracks, Glassio blends shoegaze textures, early-2000s electronica, psychedelic folk, and dream-pop haze into a cohesive meditation on identity and artistic purpose. It’s an album preoccupied with a timeless question: if the performance falls away, who remains?
Single "Heartstrings" is a bright, joyful and buoyant banger. The single is a radiant slice of indie-pop that captures the dizzy warmth of new love in full bloom. He sings, "Now, baby it's true / Tell me what you need now and / I'll be just the same," showing this first taste of love. Glowing with bittersweet euphoria, the track pairs sun-drenched melodies with an upbeat groove that feels tailor-made for golden-hour drives and windows-down summer escapism.
Then there is "A Friend Like You" showing the disillusionment of a friendship in a poignant narrative. The song in collaboration with Beauty Queen is a goodbye anthem to relationships that quietly corrode. Bright synths and psychedelic guitars frame layered harmonies that feel both cathartic and cleansing. It’s one of the record’s most emotionally direct moments, the sound of boundaries being drawn.
With "Al Pacino", Glassio once again brings in an exciting collaboration, this time with Loren Beri. The track is a melancholy-disco song about a dream gone wrong and uses the name Al Pacino as a metaphor for success, facade, grandeur, and a manipulator. The single also details the cathartic experience of leaving a person who treats you horribly. "Al Pacino" features sweeping lush soundscapes, Beach Boyseque harmonies and nostalgic-drenched beats for a must listen to musical escape.
The album exhales with “Take A Look At The Flowers,” a radiant collaboration with avant-pop artist Madge. After spiraling through doubt and self-examination, the song settles into grace. Its message is simple yet hard-won: stop searching long enough to notice what is still blooming. What began as confrontation, with addiction, with illusion, with the fear of being forgotten, resolves into quiet faith.
The final song "When The Beat Carries On", the artist crafts a thoughtful yet universally resonant track. The single unfolds as a passage through illusion, self-discovery, artistic expression, and, ultimately, renewal. Lines like “the magical mystery train it goes on / I hope I’m not alone this time / the beat carries on” highlight these themes of persistence and introspection. Sonically, the track drifts through hazy soundscapes, glistening synths, and shimmering rhythms. A rich blend of vibrant textures and buoyant electro pulses supports Glassio’s captivating vocals. The result is a song that feels both dancefloor-ready and deeply reflective, seamlessly balancing wistfulness and uplift, a signature of his style.
The Imposter feels less concerned with external validation than with internal alignment. It expands his signature sound into more sculpted, intimate territory, meshing New Wave shimmer, shoegaze blur, and dream-pop atmosphere without losing melodic immediacy.
By the time the final notes fade, the album’s thesis becomes clear: the imposter was never the artist, it was the mask. In stripping away expectation and performance, Glassio rediscovers something elemental. A maker makes. And in that act, identity steadies itself. The Imposter is not just a dream-pop opus; it’s a reclamation.
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