Grant Earl LaValley

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A Brighter Day

Exit Stencil, 2020

8/10

Listen to A Brighter Day

A songwriter who embraces gothic folk and Americana ideas, the desert dwelling Grant Earl LaValley may have waited until his 20s to start writing songs, but he’s making up for it with a wise, haunting and pretty formula that’s never short on grit and atypical ideas, too.

“The Train” starts the album with a soft folk tune where LaValley’s comforting pipes guide the introspective, almost meditative setting, and “Summers Angels” continues the wispy atmosphere where a dreamy quality leaves an impression amid electro-folk sensibilities.

In the middle, “Talk Dirty To Me” builds into a lo-fi rocker where backing vocals add much to the jangly equation, while “All Gone Away” turns darker with simmering instrumentation that flows with cautious, rugged melody that approaches gospel music.

Close to the end, “Wicked Witch” unfolds amid a slow burning, bare beauty that draws comparisons to Nick Cave, and “Ballad Of Carlo” exits the listen with spoken word, as LaValley’s inimitable baritone has us hanging on every word.

LaValley lives in the Joshua Tree in a cabin, and his art is molded by that existence where an eerie, gritty and sometimes psychedelic delivery enters his desert rock prowess. Interestingly enough, a cassette as a physical version was chosen cause of the high temperatures during the summer that make his cabin inhospitable, so he heads north with his dog in a van with a tape deck.

Travels well with: David Newbould- Sin & Redemption; Cave Flowers- Cave Flowers