“And I think I found new,” repeats renegade poet John Glacier on “Found”, lifted off her third album, Like a Ribbon, released today (February 14). It’s a poignant line in a project that, much like a ribbon itself, is constantly reinventing itself and finding new forms as it moves. It cascades through melancholic piano stabs, distorted bass pulses and even the digital mania of Surf Gang-produced track “Dancing in the Rain”, but all of these disparate sounds are packaged in the raw, almost dreamlike lens that John Glacier fans know well. From complicated love stories to perennial soul-searching, there’s a fragile and bittersweet beauty in everything she touches. 

“I wanted to show that everything in life comes and goes as the seasons do,” explains Glacier. “But, if nurtured, you can hone in on watering and providing light with hopes of entering a continual phase of blossoming and development. We start with ‘Satellites’ and end with ‘Heaven’s Sent’. Despite the changing of the seasons, the essence is always there.” 

This order is important for an artist who approaches every project “like a book”, with each track representing a chapter in the story. There’s exposition in the scene-setting opening track “Satellites”, conflict in “Nevasure” and “Steady As I Am”, and newfound self-assuredness in closing track “Heaven’s Sent”.

In the real world, however, Like a Ribbon was recorded in a studio called The Dojo – somewhere Glacier describes as “a place with beautifully coloured lamps, and Kwes Darko.” These sessions with multi-instrumentalist and fellow Londoner Darko formed the backbone of the project that also features production contributions from Flume (“Nevasure”), Surf Gang (“Dancing in the Rain”), and Mk.Gee collaborator Andrew Aged. 

But these star-studded contributions are just that – constellations in the ever-mindful and transient John Glacier universe that form her enduring appeal. Released on Valentine’s Day it speaks to love in its most expansive sense, of beauty in the day-to-day, of a self reborn, and of sound in all its forms. 

Listen to John Glacier’s Valentine’s Day playlist, featuring greats like Barrington Levy, Blu Cantrell and Arlo Parks, above, and see if you can tease out the narrative-driven structures so central to her artistry.