Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 20
  2. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. It's an ambitious, perhaps even hypercompositional debut, one whose strange beauty demands attention.
  2. Glasser's glowing debut offers more melodic and emotional consummation than almost any of her peers can muster, poised in a genuinely transcendent golden balance between the stern, the spacious and the gaudily sparkling. A very precious Ring indeed.
  3. Under The Radar
    Oct 26, 2010
    80
    Upon first listen, Ring is entirely enjoyabe, but there's something about the second run through the loop that is transcendent. [Fall 2010, p.60]
  4. Oct 25, 2010
    80
    Ring is odd and hypnotic, elaborate and approachable, dense and endearing. In the hands of any other musician, such aural acrobatics would end in failure. With Glasser, Cameron Mesirow not only makes the whole pastiche come together, but she makes it sound compelling, as well.
  5. There is little time wasted in this record's nine songs, and that Mesirow packs so many wonderful sounds into it without really complicating the chord progressions or basic melodies is perhaps the truest testament to her talent.
  6. Ring is electic, beat-heavy, and easy to like. A sneakily confident debut that should please listeners at almost every turn.
  7. Ring is an album that puts Cameron Mesirow on par with any of the emerging group of experimental female vocalists and if we didn't notice it before, there's a Glasser-shaped hole somewhere between Bat For Lashes' conceptual pop schizophrenia and Fever Ray's icy soundscapes and Cameron Mesirow is the missing puzzle piece. Debut albums rarely come more accomplished.
  8. Not only is Ring one of the few albums to feature the Nepalese stringed instrument the sarangi and a structure inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, it's also a fresh, creative debut that more than fulfills Glasser's potential.
  9. Jan 3, 2011
    78
    A smart debut that's fun to get lost in.
  10. 75
    Ring may not be perfect--certain songs have a nondescript, meandering feel--but this kind of growth is undeniably exciting, and makes both Glasser and True Panther well worth watching.
  11. Oct 25, 2010
    70
    Ring is more a cohesive, narrative song cycle than a simple collection of disparate pop songs.
  12. Ring was inspired by the symmetrical order outlined in Homer's poem Odyssey, the idea that any structure doesn't necessarily have to abide by a beginning, middle or end. Presumably this is why when succulent-lullaby Clamour completes the cycle you'll want to return to the start once more.
  13. It's tempting to deride the album as too similar at times, but the truth is that each of these songs is a perfectly sculpted and realised work of wonder revolving around a couple of central themes, which appears to be based primarily in the sounds of the Orient and the South American rainforest.
  14. Ring is an ambitious and impressive statement, and one that should help Glasser avoid that one-off attention to become a lasting artist. Its highlights are unique and mesmerizing, and the few lesser (and by lesser, I mean not flat-out fantastic) moments leave room for her to grow from here.
  15. 70
    It's also in those nature-obsessed lyrics, delivered in tones so dulcet and hypnotic that the inclination to don a robe and commune with Vespertine-era Bjork is overwhelming.
  16. Uncut
    Feb 25, 2011
    60
    With Ring, Mesirow concocts a fractured pop that accentuates the layers of electronic composition, though her voice is the guiding instrument. [Dec 2010, p.104]
  17. Dec 21, 2010
    60
    Strangely, a distinct analogue warmth still shines through. Think Enya filtered through chillwave.
  18. If Mesirow let herself explore these weird sounds more fully instead of relying on the tried and true synthesized percussion, this album would reach another level of interest.
  19. An ultimately frustrating listen, not because of the quality of Ring per se, but because of the undoubted class of record it could have been if only it were a little more thought through. Still, there's certainly enough potential to justify Glasser's rising reputation as a worthy heir to a certain Icelandic lady's throne.
  20. The music of 2000 sounds pretty tantric by comparison. And anyone old enough to have been swept up in the ornate neo-psych of the mid- to late-90s now has a right to feel a little ripped off by their nostalgia. All of which is to suppose how Glasser's debut LP, Ring, sounds beautiful, complex, intricate, and so on, and yet fails to actualize her.
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. May 15, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. A special album. Glasser showed her intelligence and prime skills while creating "Ring". Home, Glad, T, Tremel, Mirrorage and Treasure Of We are the best songs on it! Full Review »
  2. Oct 3, 2011
    10
    Glasser is Cameron Mesirow and with her full-length debut album she joined the most intriguing and original female vocalists ever (watch yourGlasser is Cameron Mesirow and with her full-length debut album she joined the most intriguing and original female vocalists ever (watch your back Björk). Ring is a sublime combination of heavy percussion and synths. The songs themselves are highly creative yet instantly attractive. Apply is one of the best opening songs Iâ Full Review »
  3. Jan 31, 2011
    8
    Imagine walking through a jungle in the year 3000 and coming across a long lost female pagan group with synthesizers in hand and you will knowImagine walking through a jungle in the year 3000 and coming across a long lost female pagan group with synthesizers in hand and you will know you're listening to Cameron Mesirow's, (aka Glasser) debut LP, Ring. She welcomes you to her land with hard stomping tribal drums, fat lower octave synths, and primitive yelping on opener track "Apply" (somewhat reminiscent of Bjork's 2007 LP, Volta's opener "Earth Intruders"). The abstract lyrics and animal cries soon naturally fade to a more ethereal sounding track called "Home" with it's quirky use of hand claps, brass, marimbas, and synths. After that you will be taken to the slower and in my opinion the least exciting tracks of the whole album, "Glad" and "Plane Temp". While they are indeed beautiful and cohesive to the rest of the album, they were growers and most plain sounding songs. But quickly you are treated to the synths that were lacking it's true leading presence in the latter two, with synthscapade "T". With it's magnificently layered vocals and hypnotizing beats, like all of Ring, this song is more heartfelt but still emotionally strong at the same time by it's vulnerable lyrics but yet with it's hard beat. Swimming down the hard beat from "T" you become immersed in "Tremel", a beautiful and sexy growing tribal chant, definitely the most unique song off the whole album. Then you are lead to pagan ceremony gone synth-pop track "Mirrorage". If radio was a little bit more open minded this would be blasting out of everyone's car, with it's catchy hook ("How can I trust in you?") fast bass drums, funky vocoders, and celestial cymbals. "Treasure of We" keeps on the same more poppier side of Ring, but lacks the character of "Mirrorage". The final track "Clamour" (reminscent of Bjork's 2004 LP Medulla vocals) brings the album in a extravagant but somewhat haunting end but ends off with an outro that does tie the album in a "Ring" with the growing "Apply" drums finishing the album just as it started. The album's ethereal power makes it convincing the Glasser will prevail into becoming an ethereal giant joining the ranks of Florence Welch, Alison Goldfrapp, Enya, Bjork, and Kate Bush. Definitely, the best post-modern album in a long time, but the most interesting factor is it's primitive sound constructed entirely on samples, MIDI, synths, and computers. This album is huge and every sound on it is huge and massive, with many layered tracks which suprisingly never becomes irritating. Ring is right for anyone into great earthly electronic and artistic music. Full Review »