Grandeur
On October 2nd, the post-punk (to say so) duo Grandeur from Connecticut released their long-awaited debut album ‘The Illusion of Power’ via 4LT4RS, which is an absolute thrill of 10 songs on great inspiration and value, yes! Grandeur is among these new generation post-punkers that don’t really care to re-visit again and again the glories of the old firm legends, but they are truly re-inventing in the most modern way this edgy post-punk music of our times. ‘The Illusion of Power’ LP was crafted by and with the most seemingly inexplicable charm of a genre that will always be here, with its principles, and shouting “we are not done yet, you’ve not heard it all yet”. Do you remember the dearly missed Holygram? Do you admire Ritual Howls? Are you still in shock with Whispering Sons? Do you recognize Actors and Spectres as incredibly precious bands now? Then get ready to also identify Grandeur as yet another band with exactly the same value as them!
Post-punk music by all means, yes, but this amazing duo from Connecticut now offers a phantasmagoria in 10 sonic events that are blended with some clear and pure new wave spices, with a bit of a darkwave-there-but-discreet scent all over, and with some of the most catchy and imposing choruses of recent years. The album starts with ‘Not of Your Waking World‘, a song that immediately shaped the path for the rest tracks and I stayed speechless and amazed. Then came ‘Under The Anvil’ where you may check what I meant when I was telling you before all these things about the same Grandeur and the rest names from their tribe!
Everything in their debut album sounds (and really is) grandiose, everywhere. From riffing to the whole arrangements, refrains to dance all night, then the bridges they occasionally use as break-downs or chills in their music, the fine sound production everywhere, and that sense they obviously had in their minds; I think that they didn’t only collect 10 songs to create an album, but they sat down to write and arrange from the start an entire record with a clear mind on how they wanted it to sound, how this album should flow, and finally, to write some pretty good lyrics too. This is another credit to the band; their lyrics are important to their music as their words are somehow navigating the arrangements and vice versa, (for sure!), and at this point, I must reveal that all of us three in WL//WH started wondering “…and think that this is only their debut, wow, fantastic job with excellent songs” and the rest we all say when we discover similar gems. Last, I totally loved their salute on the new wave sort of things and as they present it. It was a nice shock for me to discover that the whole sonic feel was not my first taste, a cold wave record, but the real thing which uplifted the whole case is that they managed to shape an album that mystically took us back to the 80s, and that was a very clever trick on purpose by them. Here we go now, turn it loud and enjoy ‘The Illusion of Power’ by Grandeur!!!
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Written by Loud Cities’ Mike
