Jordan Grant
The 1AM (Self-Release)
Out Now
Though singer-songwriters might be common place these days, Louder Than War’s Ian Critchley heard something special in Jordan Grant. He reviews his new EP below.
It’s rare I’m truly blown away by a singer/songwriter. These days they’re like a goddamn infestation and you can’t turn a corner without seeing some bozo with an acoustic guitar singing songs about getting dumped. I had the pleasure of playing a show with Jordan Grant, I too am an acoustic guitar break up singing bozo, and my jaw instantly slammed to the floor when introduced to his powerful vocal prowess. Sure, he has the whole “girl left me cry cry” thing that we all do but he puts this across with such genuine sincerity and with a honest vulnerability it’s impossible to avoid your heart turning to mush with every dulcet tone from his booming noise hole.
So I was happy to find that not one iota of that accessibility is lost on his debut EP The 1 A.M., a melodious contradiction which is both soothing and aggressive in equal measure. Jordan has a goddamn earthquake of a voice but manages to maintain a humble defencelessness which makes him one of the most interesting of the many “Frank Turner offspring” that seem to be springing up as of late. While many seek to merely imitate their idol, Jordan Grant takes the impassioned acoustic style and makes it his own.
The highlight of the EP is the title track, an upbeat track about how the brain seems to flood with inspiration at the strangest of times, but every single track has it’s own charm, from mellifluous song Butterflies to the Motion City Soundtrack styled Midnight Sun. And Jordan is not afraid to push the boundaries to try something new. While the other four songs on the EP are straight forward in terms of their stylistic approach, Please See Me instead utilises spoken vocals over a droning guitar riff and results in a bizarre ambient melodic white noise.
For a debut EP this is something very special, and shows incredible potential for the future. So much so it makes me want to up my song writing/recording game so fucking much.
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The 1 A.M. is available from Jordan Grant’s bandcamp and he can also be liked on his Facebook page.
All words by Ian Critchley. More from Ian can be found at his Louder Than War Author’s Archive.
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