On Ring, the debut album from Cameron Mesirow’s Glasser project, she expanded her electronic music from a simple bedroom-based Garageband venture to an album that was rich with tribal percussion, electronic swooshes and the odd foray into the quasi-mystical world inhabited by oft-kindred spirit Bat for Lashes. It was electronic music created by someone with a slightly hippyish, almost analogue acoustic, heart and although densely-layered at times, revealed a voice that marked Mesirow as one to watch.

And it’s the vocal aspect aspect of Glasser’s music that’s been pushed, for better or worse, to the fore on sophomore release Interiors. That’s not to say the nuts and bolts of this music have been ignored, especially given it’s a record deeply influenced by construction. Between these albums, Mesirow relocated to New York and the music on Interiors has been inspired by the city; she addresses the way the place you live affects you emotionally and physically, and uses Dutch architect and theorist Rem Koolhaas’ 1978 work Delirious New York as guide through this record, and through her early months in her new city. The battle appears to be between the emotional fluidity of relationships and life, the inner self (represented perhaps by Mesirow’s voice) and the physical restrictions placed on one’s self by the built environment or in simpler terms the battle between the exterior and the interior. Koolhaas’ book suggests the giant skyscrapers of NYC hold myriad secrets – just like people do – and is as ripe for exploration as the human condition.

It’s Glasser’s sonic constructions which holds our interest first and foremost; a bolder and more up-front sound greets us on Interiors from the moment the solid beats and clicks – almost drum and bass-like – begin on opener ‘Shape’. It’s a more powerful Mesirow that we have here, stronger despite the personal upheaval. She’s spoken of creating an “instrument-less quality” on the record, and you can understand where she’s coming from even on the opening track, as the vocals play as much of a part as the percussive aspects of the song. Voices act like synths, or ambient washes, alongside the usual harmonies and lead vox, while on ‘Design’, Mesirow’s yelps act as another percussive note. Then on the delightful ‘Dissect’ we hear a product of our surroundings, birdsong, being incorporated alongside the electronic chirps and burbles of one of the album highlights.

The Koolhaas influence comes to the fore on a series of tracks titled ‘Window’; the trio of songs are the shortest on the album but perhaps the most interesting. They eschew any obvious form, instead leaving Mesirow to fully investigate the fluidity of emotions, and it’s probably worth mentioning that windows are clearly where the interior and exterior (almost) meet. The following lyrics actually come from the aforementioned ‘Dissect’, but Mesirow uses the metaphor of a window as an opening to relationship analysis: “shackled to a window / oh will it open / I’m leaving myself to double vision”. The choral outtro to ‘Windows iii’ is the high point of the triptych, a moment where Mesirow opens up herself and her voice and nears something as euphoric as Julianna Barwick’s best sacred secular moments.

As much as Fever Ray, albeit a more chilled-out version, is an obvious comparison thanks to the connection through producer Van Rivers, it’s an act like Conquering Animal Sound that Glasser sits best alongside: both are experimenting with that instrument-less route, and using vocals in an often-unorthodox fashion. Interiors is often captivating, always interesting (I’ve not even mentioned the joint venture with artist Jonathan Turner, who has created works of art to go with the songs on the record) and certainly another confident and assured step forward for Mesirow and Glasser.