Chris Grant is a musician out of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, England, making his debut with the nine-track album Lost Soul. Self-recorded in Reaper, the record manages to come across with a fairly live feel, due in no small part to Grant’s history as a cover musician. Though he describes it as “post-folk,” which doesn’t mean all that much to me, Lost Soul has definite elements of ‘80s alternative, particularly in the interplay between the rich live instrument sound and the rather sterile computer-generated drums.
“Poison Ivy” starts off the record with a Nick Cave-like spoken verse over a snappy instrumental. It’s an intense way to start things off, and Grant never really matches the force of it on the rest of the album, making it seem an odd choice to place first. Despite its atmospheric distinction, the track does introduce most of the common elements on Lost Soul—tightly-produced and performed guitars, layers of falsetto backing vocals and a rich lower-pitched lead vocal. Things settle down a bit on “Roll the Dice,” a bouncier pop song clearly drawing on Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.” This is one spot where the precision of the performances might actually detract from the effect of the song— a little looseness may have helped the track groove and avoid some library-music moments. That said, the song works pretty well, and the vocal really sells it—it’s hard to approach Reed’s style without seeming like a terrible imitator, but Grant rises to the challenge. The lead vocals are perhaps the most important factor in Lost Soul’s success. Though he’s not without the occasional misstep, Grant’s voice manages to seem both singular and chameleonic. There’s shades of Damon Albarn and Pete Doherty on “Don’t Repeat the Past,” a bit of Chris Martin on “Into Pieces,” and even a Joe Strummer grit on the louder sections of “Eternal Life.” This versatility keeps the relatively static instrumental production from becoming too evident across the record, and emphasizes Grant’s strengths as a solo musician. Some moments don’t quite land with the same impact. “Louis Cypher” uses a dirty electric guitar under a somber, occasionally sneering vocal, but the washes of reverb keep the pieces from fitting together easily. It immediately precedes “Papillon,” a pleasant but severely repetitive folk ballad, making Lost Soul slip at the three-quarter mark. The title track rounds out the album. “Lost Soul” is a somewhat brief instrumental of ethereal guitar. Here the effects are crisp, with a deep reverb and sprightly echo on an overdriven guitar sound, somewhat muted by the fingerpicking style. It’s a nice way to let the album down gently, and Lost Soul works best when it stays understated, as it does here. Ultimately, Grant has delivered an enjoyable, if imperfect, record, doing so largely by playing to his own strengths as a writer and performer.
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