Album of the Week - Vol.21

Queen of Denmark JOHN GRANT (2010)
Week: Wed 4th to Tue 10th August
Format: CD/iPod
Producer(s): Eric Pulido, Paul Alexander and John Grant
Track listing:
1. TC and Honeybear
2. Marz *
3. Where Dreams Go to Die *
4. Sigourney Weaver *
5. Chicken Bones
6. Silver Platter Club
7. It's Easier
8. Outer Space *
9. Jesus Hates Faggots
10. Caramel
11. Leopard & Lamb
12. Queen of Denmark *
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 51:16

It took me a while to really warm to this album. I first sought it out after Midlake shared a post on social media about it. Midlake are one of my favourite bands, having delivered one of my favourite albums ever, The Trials of Van Occupanther in 2006. So, I was keen to see why they were celebrating the ten year anniversary of this record's release and decide to have a listen. 

I discovered that Midlake were actually the backing band for Grant during the recording of this album, which took place at their studio in Denton, Texas. The record was born out of two lengthy sessions in mid-/late 2008 and mid-2009, possibly while Midlake were recording their third album The Courage of Others. I don't know for sure.

Grant used to be the frontman for a band called The Czars, who broke up in 2004. I've not heard any of their music, and I don't know how Midlake came to cross paths with Grant, but maybe they toured or played together at some point? Anyway, the recording of this album was a very cathartic process for Grant, and Midlake's help in getting it made might have helped him on more than one level. Shortly after the album was completed, Grant checked himself into hospital after grappling with suicidal thoughts. 

Struggling with alcohol and drug abuse for many years, Grant wrestled with the self-loathing he felt growing up as the only homosexual boy in a conservative Colorado high school. His mother passed away in 1995 having not reconciled with her son's sexuality. Born in Buchanan, Michigan, his family moved to Colorado while Grant was a teenager, stupidly hoping that somehow his gay feelings would stay behind. He released his fifth album this year, titled Boy From Michigan, which also revisits these feelings of accepting his own identity as a gay man.

Grant spent years being angry at himself for being so scared of who he was, living amongst many who used religion to convince him that he was going to hell. Working through traumatic experiences from his past and his parents' disappointment in him resulted in a lot of subject matter of this album. As I've delved into it more and more since that first listen, I've come to be very fond of what he and Midlake recorded together. 

I had actually heard one of the songs before, and I'd forgotten about it totally. Album highlight Sigourney Weaver also has some of the album's best lyrics, as Grant expresses how his family's move from Michigan to Colorado affected him:

"I feel just like Winona Ryder in that movie about vampires/

And she couldn't get that accent right, neither could that other guy"

The track's production is bang-on as well. The use of the harmony guitar lines in the chorus are fabulous and the excellent kitschy keyboard parts add to that 70s prog feel that permeates the album. Interestingly, this latter instrumentation that I loved on Midlake's ...Van Occupanter is sorely missing on The Courage of Others. I think if they'd embraced those fabulous synth-y sounds for their third album it would have been, um, better. He he he...now, that's unfair. It was always going to be hard to top ...Van Occupanther, but the pastoral production makes much of the material sound like a dirge. 

But I digress! I also really like Where Dreams Go to Die, which is quite mournful in tone, but manages to sound uplifting. The song laments the end of a relationship, and even regrets that it ever started, but there's a glimmer of hope in the finality of it all. The finally resolves of the chorus are quite gentle and beautiful, with some lovely violin lines courtesy of English musician Fiona Brice. 

Other big highlights for me include Marz (which is the name of a lollie store in Grant's Michigan hometown), the self-serving resignation of It's Easier and the wonderful Outer Space, a statement of awe and the failure to describe someone that the singer has become enamoured with. The stunning title track, and the album's final song, is another excellent offering. Apparently the tune has been covered by Sinead O'Connor, but I've yet to track it down to have a listen. I love that the song's last line, and ultimately the album's last line too, is "Who knows, maybe you'll get to be the next queen of Denmark".

One of the more explicit songs that deals with Grant's attempts to accept himself, and his sexuality, is the somewhat controversially titled Jesus Hates Faggots. The second verse starts off with:

"I can't believe that I've considered taking my own life/

Cos I believed the lies about me were the truth"

The opening lines possibly inspired the bizarre album cover as well:

"I've felt uncomfortable since the day that I was born/

Since the day I glimpsed the black abyss in your eyes"

But yes, the song does use potentially offensive language in getting its point across. That being that you can use religion to hate anything and feel justified. It is deceptively jaunty in its production and feel, but there is a deep pool of resentment bubbling underneath it all. 

While some of this album isn't an easy listen, as is the case with many cathartic releases, there is a lot to enjoy. I'm not the biggest fan of Chicken Bones or the unnecessarily overlong Silver Platter Club, but they're still easy to listen to. This has been an album that I've gone back to a lot lately, mainly because I got sucked into Grant's newest release, which I'm really enjoying.

Co-produced by Grant with Midlake's bassist Paul Alexander and now lead vocalist Eric Pulido this record is a nice step from ...Van Occupanther to The Courage of Others. Midlake's lead singer (and chief songwriter) during this period, Tim Smith contributes some lovely bits of flute, particularly on the strangely haunting album opener TC and Honeybear. This is an album that keeps revealing treasures after each listen, and I'm quite grateful to own a copy. I will no doubt dig a little deeper into Grant's other releases. Maybe. He he he...