Grant-Lee Phillips
Little Moon

Grant-Lee Phillips, from the beginnings with the raw Shiva Burlesque to the intense, melancholic splendors of Grant Lee Buffalo up to his excellent solo works, twenty years of musical career, of stories told, brushed against, of touching emotions and sweet ballads. The echoes of "Fuzzy," a small great masterpiece of the nineties, are more evident than ever and do justice to a character who was never over the top but who managed to carry on with stubbornness and sincerity even his solo career, now far from his former group but not from those dreamy atmospheres capable of captivating even the most distracted listeners. "Little Moon" comes out in 2009 for Yep Roc Recordings, sixth studio album, a record that stands between country atmospheres, a certain folk taste, and a melancholic and introspective gaze seeking the simplest and purest feelings.

More lively and fast-paced songs, almost fun with jazz arrangements and orchestral parts, "It Ain't The Same Old Cold War Harry" and the quirky "Good Morning Happiness" and "The Sun Shines On Jupiter" stand out, alternating with more distinctly folk and singer-songwriter pieces like "Little Moon" where the piano notes rest softly on Phillips's warm voice accompanied by a poignant violin, or "Nightbirds" where the piano designs and colors light and gentle musical landscapes before completely giving way to the strings of "Violet" and the delicate atmospheres of "Blind Tom". Significantly more captivating atmospheres with pop arrangements and more assertive in the enthralling "Seal It With A Kiss" and in the romantic ballad "A Buried Treasure".

An album, therefore, balanced between folk and country songwriting immersed in that same magic that has always accompanied Grant-Lee's works, capable of continuing in that sonic groove already carried forward since the days of Grant Lee Buffalo with "Fuzzy" and "Mighty Joe Moon," but that was another story, another music, this instead is Grant-Lee Phillips.