John Grant

It looks like John Grant’s 5th solo album, Boy from Michigan, is soon to be released (June 25). I’ve listened to two tracks (the titular one and The Only Baby) and they are very promising for the album as a whole, so it’s exciting . . .

I first listened to John Grant when he was in The Czars. The Czars did some good albums and singles – when I say “good”, to me they were excellent. Anybody who likes John’s voice should track the Czars’ albums down. The Ugly People Vs the Beautiful People is a good place to start (in the middle). It’s a smart album, music with an edge and a strong voice. If you stop at the albums you’d be missing some gems in the singles (Val, X Rather than Y, and Side Effects . . . Discogs lists five singles).

There is also a promo 7” of Grant singing Song to the Siren, which first appeared on the double tribute album to Tim Buckley. The promo single is an edit, so it might be best to hear it first on the tribute album. (The tribute album itself is a brilliant album – where many tribute albums are not brilliant). You can still get the promo cheap on Discogs in mint condition, (under “Various” because it’s a bellaunion promo for the Czars and Anneli Drecker /Simon Raymonde on the B side, performing Morning Glory - this pairing of tracks is obviously a tip of the hat to This Mortal Coil).

It’s crazymadness such talented musicians find it difficult to get started. I remember seeing an ad, seeking support, put out by the Czars where they offered to play in people’s living rooms for very little. I vaguely thought I should organise it, but at that time I didn’t have a living room. John Grant then went solo, and started to build up a following. He also tried various pairings such as Midlake and there is an odd album called Creep Show, which I do like, but I need to listen to it more.

The music covers a wide range of sound; it is complex, quirky, odd, not always easy, but the experimental side is refreshing and keeps you alert. It involves indie pop, electronica/dance; on top of it all his pure and strong voice delivering political lyrics with clout (and anger . . . ). Because of this complexity I am guessing John Grant still has a lot of room for exploring / developing his music, and hence why the two above tracks bode well for the new album. As a small point: I’ve noticed the tracks on the new album are quite long, each track averaging to over six minutes apiece (something I like).

Here is really cool German interview with John Grant: http://artistxite.de/de/magazine/interviews/97933/John-Grant-Meine-Eltern-sahen-es-als-perverse-Strung-an.html I'll be seeing him do his thing at Roskilde next week.