After almost a decade away from music, Grammy award-winning indie singer-songwriter Rob Giles releases his new album, Meditation Drive-Thru. At a sold-out show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, Giles walked off stage and stopped. He didn’t tell anyone. He didn’t announce his retirement on Instagram. He thought his voice was gone. It was over.
He began writing scripts for television, selling five shows to major studios over five years. Then, he started to lose interest. So, he enrolled in grad school to become a therapist. When a close friend of his finished her radiation and chemotherapy, he asked her how she wanted to celebrate. She said, “I need another Rob Giles record.”
Despite his initial reaction, which was no way, deep inside, he knew she was right. It was time. Three months later, Meditation Drive-Thru was completed. Encompassing 11 tracks, the album begins with “Tears Into Art,” a low-slung folk-rock-like tune topped by Giles’ breathy tenor, imbuing the lyrics with warm, tender tones.
Talking about “Tears Into Art,” Giles shares, “I knew this song was a gift of clarity for me. That I could still write and sing, which I truly didn’t know if I could. I didn’t sing in the car or shower for years.” Entry points include “Show Me The Way to The Ocean,” riding a mid-tempo rhythm that throbs like a heartbeat—gentle, gleaming guitars support Giles’ deliciously soaring voice. A personal favourite because of its shimmering flow and scintillating colours, “Some Stars” reveals the velvety, evocative textures of Giles’ voice.
“Make Me Crawl” rolls out on an alt-rock-flavored melody, featuring heavier guitars atop crunching percussion and a potent bassline, while Giles’ voice takes on darker, more urgent timbres. Arguably one of the best songs on the album, “Drinking Poison” highlights radiant harmonies, followed by pushing into washes of thick rock surfaces before descending once more and then building to a dazzling, resonating outro.
Wonderfully wrought and structured, Meditation Drive-Thru smoulders with slow-burn passion, with forays into alt-rock fortifying the album with luscious variety.
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