GRAND RAPIDS started out as a solo project for former Goldenhorse guitarist and singer, Ben King.   At home and in the studio, songs that had been written during and inspired by King’s experiences on the road and abroad with Goldenhorse took form.    These songs, recorded over a two year period were released in the album, Faintheartedness, a reference to the emotion of listening to transcendental music.

The band formed to play the songs from Faintheartedness includes drummer, Will Scott, bassist, Milan Nobilo, Singer, Katie Scott, Keyboardist, Gareth Thomas and multi-instrumentalist, Andrew Keoghan.    It is this band that will work together on future Grand Rapids recordings.

A music producer by day, Ben King continues to shape music, for Grand Rapids, and his clients.

LYRICS

SINGING SHOWERS GOLDEN LIGHTS

“I COULD SING FOR HOURS ABOUT THE THING LAST NIGHT. WE WERE SINGING SHOWERS. WE WERE GOLDEN LIGHTS. MARRY TO MY BODY BETWEEN YOUR PEARLY EYES.

I LOVE YOU. WE ARE TOO GOOD TOGETHER.”

BLACK RIVER

“THE LAST THING I EVER WANTED FROM YOU WAS YOU. ONE DAY I’LL KNOW WHAT HAPPINESS IS WHEN WE ARE THROUGH.  ONE DAY YOU’LL REALISE,

THE BLACK RIVER BETWEEN YOUR EYES, IS THE LAST THING I EVER WANTED FROM YOU. LOVE IS AN EVIL WAY OF BREAKING US DOWN.  LOVE IS A BLACK SPOT ON THE SUN.

HAD I BEEN GOOD TO YOU, YOU’D STILL BE AROUND.”

NEVER BE WITHOUT YOU

“I FEEL CAUGHT, A SOFT PLACE, A ROCK. I’D DO ANYTHING TO GET OUT, LEAVE YOU, HURT YOU, SAY THINGS I DON’T MEAN, IF THAT’LL GET ME,

I WANT TO BE WITHOUT YOU. I TOLD YOU STORIES, YOU TOLD YOUR FRIENDS, YOU PUT MY PICTURE ABOVE YOUR BED. YOU LET ME PLACES I’D NEVER SEEN,

THEN I PROMISED YOU I’D NEVER BE WITHOUT YOU.”

ANNIVERSARY

“LATELY I STOOD AT THE BRIDGE IN THE BROWN NIGHT, FROM AFAR THERE CAME A SONG, A GOLDEN DROP. IT SWELLED ACROSS THE SHIVERING SURFACE.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE DAY WE MET. YOU SANG ME A GONDOLA SONG THAT SWAM ACROSS TO MEET ME AT THE WATER’S EDGE.  GONDOLAS, LIGHTS, MUSIC.

DRUNKEN IT SWAM OUT INTO THE GLOOM. MY SOUL A STRINGED INSTRUMENT, TOUCHED BY INVISIBLE HANDS, LAUGHING WITH GAUDY HAPPINESS. BUT WAS ANYONE LISTENING?”

HELL WON’T STOP ME

“I CAN’T WAIT FOR TONIGHT. IT’S GOING TO BE AMAZING.  HELL WONT STOP ME FROM SMILING ON THIS CRAZING MORNING.YOU’RE ALL SWEETNESS AND LIGHT.

YOU’RE TERRIBLE AND FRIGHTENING.  YOU LOOK TO MELIKE A STORM, BLOWING ME ALL AROUND.  I WOULD HAVE YOU IF I COULD.  YOU WONT LET ME WILL YOU LOVE?”

I KEEP DREAMING OF YOU

“THE SEA WILL NEVER BE THE SAME WITHOUT YOURSHIP.  I TRIED TO LET YOU KNOW, I TRY HARD TO FORGET.  BUT I KEEP DREAMING OF YOU,

AS IF WHEN YOU’RE GONE THAT I NEVER HAD YOU.   I TRIED TO LET YOU KNOW, I TRIED HARD TO FORGET.”

HAMBURG THE ELEPHANT

“HAMBURG THE ELEPHANT WENT HOME TODAY ON A PLANE.  WENT HOMETO SEE HIS MASTER, O.B. KING FOR HIS SIX MONTH BIRTHDAY, LEFT HIS FAMILY AT THE ZOO.

HAMBURG AND OLIVER ASLEEP IN BED.  HAMBURG IS SLEEPING ON O.B.’S HEAD, DREAMING OF THE THINGS THEY’D LIKE TO DO, WHEN THE DAY IS NEW.”

MOUNT VESUVIUS LAHAR! LAHAR!

“I WISH TO BUILD MY HOUSE UPON THE SLOPES OF MOUNT VESUVIUS, THAT’S HOW I FEEL TONIGHT. OH TO LIVE MY LIFE AMONG THE ROCK’S AND STONES

AND ALL THE FLYING THINGS THAT LOVE THIS MOUNTAIN ON FIRE.  MOUNT VESUVIUS LAHAR! LAHAR!”

THE MEN ON THE HORSES

“THE MEN ON THE HORSES ARE COMING TONIGHT. THEY’LL TAKE NO PRISONERS UNDER THE MOONLIGHT. SO BATTON DOWN THE HATCHES AND TUN OUT THE LIGHTS.

COMFORT YOUR CHILDREN THERE’S NOTHING TO HIDE.  OH GOD, THE MEN ON THE HORSES. OH GOD, THERE’LL BE NO SLEEP TONIGHT.  OH GOD WHEN THE MEN ON THE HORSES RIDE.

HE STOLE THROUGH THE HALLWAY AND BROKE  THROUGH THE DOOR.  HE TOOK WHAT HE WANTED AND WANTED AND WANTED SOME MORE.

SHE LAY TIL HE SLEPT IN THE LIGHT OF THE MORN, DRESSING HERSELF IN THE HOOD THAT HE WORE, ON HORSEBACK SHE RODE THROUGH THE FIELDS OF CORN.

SHE’S LEAVING AND STEALING THE KEY TO HIS HEART.  SHE RODE WITH THE HORSEMEN AND TORE THEM APART.”

FRIDAY THE 13TH

”I WANT YOU SO MUCH.  I FEEL IT INSIDE.  A TASTE LIKE YOU.  I WANT YOU SO MUCH.”

COVER IMAGE:  ’TRIGPOINT, 2009’ HANNAH BROWN  •  BACK COVER IMAGE:  ‘UNTITLED, 2010′ ADAM BRYCE  •  BEN KING: VOCALS, BASS, GUITAR, DRUMS, SYNTH EXCEPT:

PAUL ROPER: DRUMS ON ANNIVERSARY, MOUNT VESUVIUS, MEN ON THE HORSES  •  COLE GOODLEY: DRUMS ON I KEEP DREAMING OF YOU  •

FLORENCE NOBEL: VOCAL ON ANNIVERSARY  •  MILAN NOBILO: GUITARS ON FRIDAY THE 13TH, ANNIVERSARY  •  KATIE BROWN: VOCAL ON I KEEP DREAMING OF YOU  •

VINCENT HINE: BACKGROUND VOCAL ON BLACK RIVER  •  JANEK CROYDEN: PEDAL STEEL ON THE MEN ON THE HORSES  •  JESS HINDIN: VIOLIN ON I KEEP DREAMING OF YOU  •

RECORDED & MIXED: AT YORK STREET STUDIOS BY SIMON GOODING, HOOK AND JUSTIN MAUDSLEY  ELSEWHERE BY BEN KING, GEOFF MADDOCK & NICHOLAS ABBOTT  •

MASTERED BY CHRIS WINCHCOMBE

WRITTEN BY BEN KING (ANNIVERSARY LYRICS FROM/INSPIRED BY FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE)  •  PRODUCED BY BEN KING

THANKS TO JEREMY MCPIKE, ADAM BRYCE, ANNABEL, LAURA, JEFF, AND EVERYONE AT MUSICHYPE

original sculpture – ’TRIGPOINT, 2009’ HANNAH BROWN

LISTEN & BUY

Directed by Jemma Nissen, with Ben King.

Dancer: Catherine Waller

Since then there have only been a couple of minor changes for this week’s “proper” release, and just as well. It wasn’t broken and certainly didn’t need fixing.

King has said he never wanted to make an 80s pastiche album, and he hasn’t. But he also hasn’t shied away from the influence of the best bits of a decade with a big effect on, well, those of us it had a big effect on.

He seems to excel at taking the qualities that make pop music what it is, stripping out the cheese and clichés, and somehow making it unpredictable again – a skill that made his previous band so popular with both the chart and indie crowds.

The album starts with the bang of The Men On The Horses, rather than the slow-burning but peculiar brilliance of first single Singing Showers, Golden Lights, which started the original release.

But it was neither of these songs that first made me really take notice. Not afraid of a good electronic hand clap or a falsetto chorus, Never Be Without You is the most overt of the four or so 80s influenced songs, with its less-is-more lyrics and an infectious chorus of ohhhs.

There is a moment during Black River, when a key change early on completely changes the mood of the song so potently, that by the time King sings “Had I been good to you, you’d still be around,” you wish you were a part of whatever heartbreak it is he’s been talking about.

If Never Be Without You‘s lyrics are less-is-more, Friday The 13th‘s barely exist. Four short phrases repeated over and over before a long instrumental outro that again reveals the split personality of Grand Rapids songs.

Like all great albums, Faintheartedness is full of songs with their own identity that still make perfect sense when combined. Making time to listen to it in its entirety – made more appealing with a vinyl release on the way – brings even more rewards.

Stars: 5/5
Verdict: Is it too early to predict 2011′s best-of lists?

4.5 Stars
Simon Sweetman

Grand Rapids playing to a studio audience on the Sundae Sessions live at York Street Studios, filmed in HD for www.nzherald.co.nz, May, 2011.

Grand Rapids playing to a studio audience on the Sundae Sessions live at York Street Studios, filmed in HD for www.nzherald.co.nz, May, 2011.