The Iceland-based American returns with his seventh LP, a mixture of catchy funk and disco with slow-burn, simmering, contemplative electronica where dark humour stirs along with candid emotions and a sorrowful look at rising fascism in the US. The title itself refers to the gaslighting of the far-right and a culture war, but the prior-release singles give a different impression of the overall release. All That School For Nothing is a fabulous funk track mixing Parliament-style 70s and 80s flavours with a biting wit, as is the electro-pop It’s A Bitch about life’s many ups and downs, but several other tracks are slower, longer vocoder voiced more contemplative numbers. Mother and Father tells captures the tragic story of US sailor Allen Schindler, brutally murdered in 1992 in a horrific bathroom attack by fellow servicemen with the song musing on the tragedy particular for his mother, whose son loved the navy, had the ship’s image tattooed on his arm, but was killed for being gay. It includes backing vocals by Scottish singer Rachel Sermanni. The truth was initially covered up. The tracks Daddy and Father meanwhile are Grant’s personal exploration of how his relationship with father may have affected his own homosexuality and relationships, the latter reliving post-funeral visit the house where Grant grew up. Whether or not the emotional side of this is helped by the voice box effect is a matter of taste, but that is Grant’s style. Overall, produced by Grace Jones collaborator Ivor Guest, an affecting album of wrong-footing balance between fun and serious, but set in worrying times, captured also in the track Child Catcher, pertaining to dark forces in media, politics and culture, notably white supremacism and Christian fundamentalism: “The child catcher is alive / His shape is shifting right before your eyes again.” Out on Bella Union.
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