A review of John Grant's "Pale Green Ghosts"

This was plastered all over the wall of Rough Trade East in London, so, Chris bought it. We put it in on our drive to Chagford and, although distracted by the terror of our first time driving in the UK, we could definitely tell there was something cool going on here. Once my life was out of immediate danger, I spent a little more time with it and I'm very glad I did.
Because it good.
It reeeeeal good.

One of the first things that struck me was how much this guy sounds like both Stephin Merritt (of Magnetic Fields) and John McCrea (of Cake)*. When he's lower, the former and when he's higher the latter, but also in the tone of his lyrics. He's bitter and sarcastic and hurt and hopeful and fucking angry. The barely restrained fury on some of these tracks is truly startling. You can hear his gritted teeth... He may not have had enough just yet, but he is three straws away. Or, he's utterly defeated and simply asking why. Why did you do this? Why would you do this? The innate gravity in his voice makes these darker moments pitch back while adding a razor sharp bite to the more ironic or whimsical lyrics.
The music (for the most part) matches the dark and sparse vocals. It feels very somber. Sometimes. Other times, for instance, on "New Age Sensitive Guy" and "Ernest Borgnine", it's practically club music. "Sensitive Guy" is just the oddest damn song on here. Is "somber disco" a genre?
Oh, and, Sinade O'Connor is on about a third of the album, doing backing vocals.
What?
And she sounds great.
Yeah, maybe they had to lower her volume a bit, but, however it happened, she really adds a lot; juxtaposing nicely with Grant's smug/furious growl.
Along with all that sparseness, there are some nice surprises; the occasional string arrangements, piano and saxophone really do a lot of fill in the cold, electric gaps with which he's littered his album.
I'd say the majority of this album is rock solid, from the snark and swagger of "GMF" to the heartfelt and pleading "Why Don't You Love Me Anymore?" to the tearjerking "It Gets Better" anthem "Glacier" (which never gets too sentimental thanks to Grant's vitriol and dry humor)...actually, pretty much everything except the title track, "Black Belt" and "Vietnam" really stand out as excellent for me.

This was a really great find and reinvigorates my belief that there is still amazing music out there, if you're willing to just randomly pick up an album in a record store in London.
Now, go check out John Grant. I've made it even easier for you to do so by including links to some of the choiceier tracks from Pale Green Ghosts.
Dig them.

"GMF"
"Why Don't You Love Me Anymore?"
"Sensitive New Age Guy"
"Ernest Bogrnine"
"Glacier"





* But more resonant and sonorous than them both.