By Joanna Orland
After years as frontman for Denver-based rock band The Czars, John Grant launched his solo career in 2010 with the critically acclaimed album Queen Of Denmark. Three years later, with the pressure to follow up such a well-received album, Grant graces our music libraries with Pale Green Ghosts. While Queen of Denmark was recorded with the help of band Midlake, Pale Green Ghosts has a more electronic feel to it, having been recorded in Reykjavik with the assistance of Biggi Veira of GusGus fame.
John’s music does stand out from his contemporaries’, with Mojo Magazine declaring Queen of Denmark the best album of 2010 and Pale Green Ghosts making best of 2013 lists all around. One reason his music is so distinct is his lyrics. Personal and gut-wrenching at times, slightly wry at others, with his distinct baritone vocals and confessional lyrical style, he’s forging his own sound on an otherwise overpopulated music scene.
He often sings of his life which has seen its fair share of troubles. From a religious upbringing, to a history of addiction which he has now overcome, serious depression that he has bounced back from, the struggle of dealing with his sexuality, lost loves, and being diagnosed as HIV positive have evolved into the poetic music of his two albums. He is a very complex character with an aptitude for words. So much so, that my inept words cannot do him justice. Here is where you click the “play” button under the picture of John and me, and listen to the man himself speak about his music, his life, and his multifaceted persona.