John Grant - Boy from Michigan

The Guardian 0

(Bella Union)
Grant forgoes his customary wit and wry emotion for a more direct style

Despite the ripple of cosmic, Vangelistic synth that opens John Grant’s fifth album, the sardonic troubadour is looking not to the future, but to his past. Formative memories weigh heavy on this record, produced by Welsh wonder Cate Le Bon: the emergent sexuality fighting to stay hidden on the dreamy, clarinet-haunted textures of Mike and Julie; the lush, impressionistic amble through the stalls on County Fair, couched in Cocteau Twins guitar glimmer and Beach Boys harmonies.

Related: Elton John and John Grant: ‘We help each other. We are both complicated people’