John Grant – Boy from Michigan
As its title and pared-back cover suggest, Boy from Michigan is a personal, unadorned look into John Grant’s psyche
John Grant has always been something of an open book, but on Boy from Michigan, the ostentatious trappings of the past are mostly eschewed for straightforward arrangements and clear-eyed storytelling (give or take the lashings of horndog irony in Your Portfolio). That doesn’t mean there isn't any moody sax, sophisti-pop woodwind or bouncy, cybernetic post-punk, but the carefully curated figure of past album covers has shed the poses and feathers to reveal the man underneath (though he hasn’t lost the twinkle in his eye).
The opening three songs paint a vivid picture of Rust Belt America, both alluring and intoxicating, but with ominous undertones, laid out implicitly with eerie synths and explicitly in the encapsulating lyrics of the title track: 'The American Dream is not for weak soft-hearted fools'.
Boy from Michigan is an unhurried, loping listen; sprawling over 75 minutes with sumptuous synth and a ten-minute tirade on Trump’s America (The Only Baby). Sometimes the laconic style feels repetitive, but there are plenty of perfectly formed moments to bring the album back into focus. And it’s capped off with an indictment of machismo, disguised as a tender ballad (Billy), counteracting with the bile of The Only Baby while reinforcing its rage.
Listen to: County Fair, Rhetorical Figure, Just So You Know