Music

This band made a song out of beer glasses and it rules

by Mark Teo

Listen, we’re as wary of schlocky corporate stunts as anyone. But in this case, Stella Artois and Cold War Kids—the beer brand that’s as as known for their suds as their signature gold-rimmed chalices—get a G pass for, in essence, creating a song using giant sculptures made from empty pints. And it rules.

The Belgian beer brand first approached M.I.T. sculptor Andy Cavatorta to create sculpture-instruments, using Stella’s signature chalices. Cavatorta, it should be noted, is a talented sound artist—his most recognizable work appeared on Bjork’s Biophilia. The rationale behind the experiment? Because sound, Esquire notes, is the only sense beer doesn’t engage. Ugh. Brands gonna be brands, right?

But the result is super-cool. They emerged with four instruments: The Pyrophone (which, according to its description, is “an imposing glass pipe organ that uses flames to create a rich, unique sound, like a warm ocean of whale-like baritone voices”), the Hive (a “crystalline matrix of glass and steel bells, producing precise, delicate notes and quick patterns”), the Star Harp (“a tall, cylindrical harp orbited by five mechanical arms which playfully dance around it in elegant patterns”), and the Violina (“a mesmerizing collection of rotating wheels within wheels, with a shimmery voice of bowed glass).

And so, the Chalice Symphony was born.

Of course, someone needed to actually play Cavatorta’s creations. Cold War Kids, the Long Beach indie rock band, were commissioned to write a song, and they delivered: They came back with “A Million Eyes,” a track which they’ve since performed in New York. Download it here.

A video has also emerged about the creation of the instruments. Check that below.