Interview with The Glass Hearts: ‘We’ve been inspired by our parents’ record collections but we didn’t want ‘Coupe deVille’ just to be a throwback’

Soul band born from the collision of two rising musicians in their own right The Glass Hearts will release their debut single ‘Coupe deVille’ tomorrow (21 April).

The band comprises Tommy Cobley from Leicester, who supported Catfish and the Bottlemen with his previous band and Charlie Cole from Stockport, who has spent the last few years touring the UK, China and Europe with his previous band as well as working as a session musician. They know each other from previous bands and Instagram. ‘It took a while to get the name, it took a good four months,’ Cobley said. ‘Like most good ideas, it came over a pint in the pub (laughs). Charlie was thinking “hearts” and Charlie’s missus said “glass hearts” and we thought that it was good!’

Theirs is soul-inspired guitar music with memorable hooks, taking an inspirational shimmer from Northern Soul (a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England in the late 1960’s from the British mod scene). ‘Coupe deVille’ feels new, fresh and surprising yet has all the hallmarks of a classic: ‘We’re massively into Northern Soul and rock ‘n’ roll,’ Cobley said. ‘We’ve been inspired by our parents’ record collections but we didn’t want ‘Coupe deVille’ just to be a throwback.’

‘We had all these ideas in the pot, it happened quite quickly’

The track hooks you from the soul-infused drum intro and Cobley’s warm vocals, which build to a huge singalong chorus. With a rhythm and brass section – played by Ash Sheehan of Edwin Starr/The Twang – consisting of fast tempo soul driven drums and artsy lyricism accompanied by a unique infectious melody, it’s a song made for the dancefloor. ‘It came together in the studio,’ Cole said. ‘We had a rough idea with chords that were similar. We had all these ideas in the pot, it happened quite quickly.’

The writing process started with the understanding of a ‘liminal space’ – a place someone is in during a transitional period or places that ‘appear eerie, empty and surreal’, according to them. ‘Tommy sings about his feelings of uneasiness whilst being in this space causing him to pass through to somewhere else – a newer version of himself,’ Cole said. ‘Passing through ‘trapdoors’, being aware of past bad habits and trying to dodge them by focussing on a safer space. Hopefully, escaping his unsettling liminal space, it has emotive lyrics inspired by cult classic film imagery.’ Cobley agrees: ‘The lyrics are quite self-reflective, about chapters in my life, the key points that bookmark your life,’ he said. ‘It’s about bad habits and pitfalls, those ‘trapdoors’ and falling back into those half trapdoors. We had an extra melody we added into the chorus. I’m really big on how words sound, the shadows on the wall. It’s about my life.’

Cobley typically writes the lyrics, writing their songs on an acoustic guitar: ‘I get the verses, chorus and melody down and I take it to Charlie and we’ll make it into something, put ideas together,’ he said. ‘We need each other. I can’t do what Charlie does and he can’t do what I do.’ Interestingly, when they work on a song together it can evolve to the point where it is barely recognisable from the initial idea: ‘This one started off completely differently,’ Cole said. ‘We were trying our first idea and the song just expanded into something completely different. The original demo and ideas could honestly be a new song the amount it changed, the first demos almost seem to act as an inspiration to what the track would become.’ Cobley agrees: ‘I found some early voice notes of ‘Coupe deVille’, there are 10 different ones, each time I changed it (laughs). It’s really nice to hear the development.’ Cole nods: ‘Even when you go from the demo to the version now, you can tell that they’re two completely different versions. The synths were done in a day. Our producer Andy is a bass player, he’s really helpful. The chorus and melody line are completely different. There was also no guitar solo on the original demo, no synths , no brass. This all came together in the studio sessions and it just evolved naturally.’

‘There are a couple of darker, melancholic, sadder songs, I think some of them are the best yet’

Next up, they have a few tracks to pick from: ‘We’ve got a few tracks done, a glam rock one – a T. Rex/Kasabian kind of feel,’ Cobley said. ‘There are a couple of darker, melancholic, sadder songs, I think some of them are the best yet. My favourite is a demo we are currently working on,  it’s quite a personal kind of thing. It’s got a really good chorus, really rhythmic, I love singing it.’ Cole is smiling: ‘It’s a big one for me, too,’ he said. ”Heartbreaker’ (working title) is another one for me.’ Cobley is thinking: ‘These new demos and possibly next releases have a similar feel,’ he said. ‘The first demo is closer to ‘Coupe deVille’ with the drums etc.’ Cole nods: ‘Even though they’re dark and meaningful, they feel like big, anthemic, summer festival songs,’ he said. ‘It’s a good niche we’ve found ourselves in with big choruses and hooks.The sonic highlights of the new one, I think, is the guitar solo being so fuzzy and almost so different from the soul feel of the song but also feels like it fits perfectly, also the way the song drops out and just goes to percussion. It feels like something that does not really happen in today’s music but having that on the record feels so right and references parts of the early disco scene.’

Ultimately, Cobley is writing from the heart and that really shines through: ‘We love soul music, there’s disco in there, those big songs with personal lyrics. It comes from the heart. I like songs with a bit of sadness, also in the delivery of the lyrics. We play with that. When you give the bones of a song to someone else, when I give it to Charlie, he can play around with it more because it’s not his story, there’s a freedom in that. I can struggle sometimes to get to the finishing point of my story (laughs) but Charlie adds the magic to the tune. I feel dead comfortable with Charlie and Andy (our producer) and I think they do with me.’ Cole agrees: ‘We didn’t rush it, we really took our time with this, we’ve been in other bands.’

They’ve also supported heavyweight Miles Kane and Liverpool rising star Jamie Webster: ‘It was a great experience,’ Cobley said enthusiastically. ‘We just did an acoustic gig with Jamie, it was great to play on stage like that. He was so supportive.’ They supported Miles Kane in Stockport, in a 300 capacity venue that Cole described as ‘absolutely heaving’: ‘I worked together with Miles Kane on a clothing line for Phix Clothing,’ Cole said. I say that a musician once told me the story of how Miles Kane tried to buy his jacket on a night out and he laughs. ‘That sounds like him, he’s obsessed with clothes and the little details. He’ll take a couple of millimetres off a collar so it is just perfect in his eyes!’

Cole’s dream line up could be an all-dayer: ‘The Beatles – to see the original lineup would just be incredible but we’d love to hear them do this set at the end of their career to get the full back catalog,’ he said. ‘Oasis because neither of us saw them live and they have been a huge influence on us as musicians when growing up. INXS is one of my favourite bands and a band that has not played live for years; it would be incredible to see them with Michael live. Paul Weller/The Style Council were a huge influence on us growing up and he’s incredible live. Kasabian – with Tommy being from the same place and them being one of my favourite bands, it would just feel wrong to not have them on this, they are literally the best live band out there and are a proper festival act!’

If he could go for a pint with anyone, Cole is quick to pick Dave Grohl: ‘He’s the soundest guy in music,’ he said. ‘He was in two of the biggest bands ever. Who else can say that? He’s buzzing to be there, he always seems so happy to be there (on stage).’ Cobley laughs: ‘He’d be “Who the fuck are you?!” It’s such a hard question! Paul McCartney could be a good one. John used to be my favourite Beatle but the older I get, the more I appreciate Paul’s melodies. After a few sherbets, we’d get stuck in! I’d ask him what it was like, it must seem quite alienating his level of stardom. It had never been done by anyone before The Beatles. I’d ask him if he goes down the chippy, he must go down the chippy sometimes!’

(Top photo from left to right: Charlie and Tommy.)