By Noah Randall, Production Manager
When the 20-year-old hyperpop phenom Glaive burst onto the scene in 2020, his writing style quickly made him stand out among his peers. Discovering him in 2023, Glaive personally struck me as someone who could write a song about paint drying and make it interesting. So after May It Never Falter was released in October last year, I loved the ideas it brought to the table, and yet grew to feel those ideas were a bit underbaked — the longest song on the album is just under 3 minutes, and it’s the longest song by far.
Songs like “Count It Up” were just begging for a second verse or a bridge section, all to be seemingly cut short. If the ideas were fleshed out a bit more, this could’ve been a great album. Instead, it had to settle for just being “very good.”
Now, with just under a month since its release, Glaive’s third album Y’all answers that hang-up in a huge way. Clocking in at 38 minutes, it tops his debut I Care So Much That I Don’t Care at All as his longest project to date.
“Nouveau Riche” and “Weird” are the only songs that are over in under 2 minutes, but with the rest of the track list being as fleshed out as it is, it isn’t as big an issue as it is on his prior effort. Even with the short lengths, those two songs in particular showcase the highlights of Glaive’s writing, in the former, and his production, in the latter, on this album in spades.
Glaive’s writing is known for blending both bluntness and metaphor in a way none of his contemporaries can quite replicate; this album is the definitive Glaive album in that sense. Multiple times during our first listen, a lyric would make my friend and me perk up an eyebrow. Many times, the song would be so catchy we would start humming along to the chorus before we even finished listening to it. This album is everything I hoped for when I wished that Falter had more second verses.
As far as production goes, this is the perfect mix of the styles Glaive has experimented with over his career so far — there’s something for everyone here. “i love you and it sounds stupid” gives the slow alt-rock vibes of his debut album, but fans of the more abrasive, thrashy sound of his early 2024 EP a bit of a mad one can take solace in tracks like “Foreigner.”
If you’re like me and wanted a bigger and better version of what his last album had to offer, “Veni Vidi Vici” and “It Is What It Is” satisfy that desire. “Modafinil” serves fans of Glaive’s collaborative work with his hyperpop collective “slowsilver03”, and one of the two singles, “Appalachia”, is not too dissimilar to what you can find on his projects as ovine hall. Y’all blends all these styles while all feeling similarly “Glaive” enough to never feel scattered or jarring.
But it’s a track like “Bluebirds” that really strikes me as special. It bounces along like a late-night train ride, as Glaive writes about the heartbreaks of people close to him. It’s an instant classic in the Glaive discography, and it’s easily one of his most accessible songs. If someone asks me “who’s Glaive?”, this is one of the first songs I would show them. It’s surprising to see an artist with such deep hyperpop roots show so much constraint on a track like this without sacrificing the wit in his songwriting. The song serves as a reminder that we shouldn’t be surprised if we see Glaive’s name in the contemporary pop charts in the near future.
Glaive’s 2025 effort proves to be his most definitive album yet. There’s at least one track that speaks to everyone, and that one track is the best version of whatever style of Glaive it emulates. It’s a collective highlight reel that heavily reinforces the strength of Glaive’s writing and production. Unlike its predecessor, Y’all never truly falters.
Final Score: 9/10
Favorite Song: Nouveau Riche
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