Nomadic multi-instrumentalist and electro-acoustic visionary" Justin Grounds is about to embark on a tour of must-see shows in Ireland and the UK to support the release of his stunning new album 'The Dissolving' which is due for release March 2010.
Grounds' own life has trodden a path as wildly adventurous and unconventional as his music. Born into a unconventional family his musical education was unorthodox and eclectic; studying baroque violin, foraging ideas from classical sonatas to jazz/funk grooves, touring with a drum'n'bass collective and completing a degree in electro-acoustic composition. Leaving home and packing his bags with a laptop, some mics and a handful of ideas, he made his debut record 'Francesco' on a long journey around the world, performing and recording in some of the most extraordinary places, from a Hawaiian monastery to a housing project in downtown Vancouver. The album was followed by the critically lauded, dark and broody 'Love is Strong as Death', recorded in Melbourne, Australia and released on the now sadly defunct Creative Vibes label.
In keeping with his endless sense of wanderlust, Grounds toured the world with these records, playing shows across the UK, Canada, the USA and Australia, all the while developing his own unique and experimental solo stage show, building and programming his own electronic live loop setup to weave loops and layers of laptop, analogue synth, and thumb piano as well as his beloved violin.
New album 'The Dissolving' is, for Grounds, the culmination of his untamed creative journey, both stylistically and lyrically. Having settled for the time being in a tiny cottage on the windswept coast of South West Ireland, with only a small woodstove for heat and knowing no-one in the entire country, Grounds set up his studio and began to record the songs in solitude, some that had evolved spontaneously on the endless tours, and others which seemed to appear out of the ether of the barren surrounds he found himself in.
It is a record which spans that paradox, with warm, ancient violin melodies being driven along by glitchy electronic beats and echoes of drum'n'bass records; holy silences and landscapes of sound cut open by ecstatic crescendos of analogue synths and crushed vocals.
"As my life was drawn into this very organic rhythm, the tides, the fire, the chopping of the woodin a strange way creatively I started getting drawn into the electronic side of my studio. All the time I was working on this record I was deeply seduced by the idea of combining the sheer purity, almost divine, but cold perfection of the electronic sounds with the fragmented and flawed, yet warm wooden sounds of the string instruments. Somewhere in the joining of these two sides of the spectrum came a profound and hopeful movement."
Driven along by crisp drum 'n' bass samples, cracked analogue synth basslines and electro-acoustic textures, the songs took shape with plucked violins and percussive pianos sent through tape delays, small fragments of thumb piano chiming and creating a harmonic structure. On top of all this music the lyrics began to shape themselves, mystical streams of song that made themselves known in the final stages of composition, as if appearing in the mist over the ocean.
'The Dissolving' will be available on CD, download and limited edition 12" Vinyl
A FEW QUOTES:
"the stunning new album from Melbourne-based electro-acoustic indie visionary Justin Grounds, full of lush arrangements, velvety, eclectic instrumentation, thought-provoking writing and Grounds' hauntingly beautiful voicethe world is simply a better place for the existence of Love is Strong as Death, and that's not something that can be said too often, or too sincerely, about a lot of art."
-Inpress Magazine-
"Justin Grounds, wearer of old suits, multi-instrumentalist, and occasional existentialist is a man who treads his own paths and deserves due respect for that aloneWhen Grounds takes his own advice: “It’s time to spread your wings and fly” on the albums highlight Earth is a Woman, the result is a splendiferous thing to behold – for he truly has a majestic command of restraint that makes the release all the more euphoric. These tracks alone make this album worth owning." -Alternative Media Group-
"an album of understated class. It really is a great listen. His voice is rich and melodic, and the compositions themselves are brilliant. Off-kilter, almost syncopated guitar lines, lend a Go-Betweens style air to proceedings that is stunningly effective.this album is a grower, and a stunner, and I recommend it highly." -thedwarf.com-
“Full of excellent songs and gorgeous musical ideas, even straying into drum and bass territory. His touch is superb.a damn lovely album that has continued to spin on my player.”
-PBS fm-
".it’s easy to be seduced by a record that imagines a parallel universe where Eno produced Pink Moon. The lovely Blossom Place, the squelchy laptop rhythms of Reaching Into Darkness and the impassioned title track provide some of the most affecting moments. desolate Nick Drake-esque ballads reconfigured into post-millennial tone poems." -Rave Magazine-
.the closest thing to Jeff Buckley I've ever heard, both in style and quality. Justin Grounds has the potential to be remembered for someone with a truckload of musical credibility."
-The Brag Magazine-
A rare, hidden gem from a forest full of troubadoursFrancesco is a gentle charmer with haunting moodiness and yearning achewell-crafted songs and sweet melodies.
-Sunday Herald Sun-
With a beautifully emotive voice and interesting compositions make him a very special prospect and definitely one to watch for 2007. -Narc Magazine, UK-
