Dutch Americana duo Grapes of Grain do a quite bit of genre-hopping on their new album Painted Windows. Whatever style they picked, whether it's alt-country, power pop of indie rock with a hint of garage, the melody always comes first. Singer-songwriter Alexis Vos usually gets the ball rolling, recording demos which he sends to his band mate Berend Jan Ike, who - as a multi-instrumentalist - can bring the song to the next stage. With that modus operandi there is ample opportunity to figure out what will work best and if it a good idea to make a few calls to their circle of friends and former band members to add a specific instrument to the mix.
Melancholy and optimism are playing catch in the lyrics - case in point: the album's closing track Lifeline. Vos prefers the position of an outsider looking in most of the time, giving him just enough distance from the subject matter to get to the core. Bonus points for writing a song about Jonathan Richman and sneaking a bit of Dirk Heuff's guitar tone into Fatal Flower.
Grapes of Grain:
Alexis Vos: vocals, guitar, bass
Berend Jan Ike: guitar, vocals, drums, bass, piano
Guest musicians:
Stefan Breuer: guitar, keys, drums, bass, vocals
Arno Breuer: drums, percussion, bouzouki
Harm van Sleen: pedal steel, dobro, violin
Niels van Heumen: trumpet, synthesizer
David Decraene: saxophone
Amber Sawyer: vocals
Lara Taska: vocals
Kirsti Blow: vocals
Painted Windows is a self-released album (CD, digital). Buy it from their website.
Tracks:- True Treat
- Martin Luther
- Back Inside
- Stranded
- Hey There, Jonathan
- Darker Days
- Photograph Girl
- Sensation
- Sing Song V02
- Reading Into the Night
- Fatal Flower
- Lifeline
