Norway's I Was A King have given Grand Hotel a download release to Grand Hotel, an album released on vinyl only last year and now well and truly out of print. The album is a companion piece to 2012's You Love It Here and 2019's Slow Century and the recordings are from the same period.
For those who know of the band, the direction of the songs will be no surprise. The mellow avenues of more recent Teenage Fanclub and very much in Dropkick territory covers it. But the two aforementioned albums were so splendid that a listen is vital.
Appearances from and three songs co written with Robyn Hitchcock, one of which includes Norman Blake will give the uninitiated a clue on what to expect. As will the three covers of Daniel Johnston, Scott McCaughey and Sean Jackson.
Grand Hotel may be a bit too gentle for some, but as a mood enhancer, this is top notch stuff and when it Jangles, boy does it jangle. This particularly relevant on the likes of A Frozen Disease and The Anthem, the latter is a crackerjack of a song.
Room 208 is a fine meandering moody affair and Leave is poptastic and wonderfully chipper in tone. But, I'm not sure where I Was A King can go from here. Grand Hotel is a fine album, but others have pretty got this territory sewn up.
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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