I consider myself something of an afficionado of instrumental rock music. Yet this is the first time I have ever heard of Grails. After 20 years of existence, it’s only now that the Portland band have aligned themselves with my ears and I feel a little shame in admitting it. For their first album in 6 years, entitled Anches En Maat, the band were able to convene in a studio together to create some stunning and lush soundscapes. Determined to push themselves artistically, the band consisting of founding members Alex Hall and Emil Amos joined with Jesse Bates, Ilyas Ahmed and AE Paterra with “a bizarre lust to try and not sound like ourselves”. Long-term contributor Timba Harris provided strings, and what glorious strings they are too.
Opener ‘Sad & Illegal’ peeks over the horizon like the opening credits of an 80s movie in the vein of a John Carpenter soundtrack, sleek strings gliding over a lovely warm electro throb. As the clattering percussion flitters and skanks underneath, teasing you by taking forever to get going in full swing. When it does, the track becomes a glorious epic slice of expertly played out instrumental rock. There’s a vague hint of the main melody from the Twin Peaks theme in there too. Cinematic and rich with depth, it’s a mesmerising piece of music to start the album with. ‘Viktor’s Night Map’ features shuffling percussion and bubbling electro textures playing on your nerves like a tense dream. The lazy strings swoon in the distance offering sun rays of hope, but the track simmers on a low boil for the duration.
The swooning ‘Sisters of Bilitis’ is a blissed-out fusion of lavish strings and a mainline twanging guitar melody that brings a serenity that is utterly joyous. It eases the shoulders back after the tension of the previous track, especially when the track erupts into an elegant kaleidoscope of guitars, strings and jazzy percussion. ‘Pool of Gems’ dives into the full-on film noir waters with a myriad of yesteryear instrumentation, with all manner of lush sounding strings. I found it a tad stylish in favour of memorable melody though.
The first discernible appearance of a piano appears on ‘Evening Song’ and thankfully the melodious content brought in by those gorgeous strings return. The mood conjured up is languid and once again, a throwback to the days when a cinematic score meant more than snippets of already recorded music. ‘Black Rain’ finds Grails go full-on electronica with a pristine sheen of rubbery atmospherics that fizz and pop disorientating the listener. With hints of the scattershot approach the likes of The Orb create, the track is erratic at times before swelling at the end with devilish strings.
Finally album closer ‘Anches En Maat’ is a vast and prolonged piece that takes an age to get into the flow. When it does strings and brass combine with a rich and stylish elegance. Around the halfway mark though my interest wains, as the experimental extravagance simply overpowers my focus. Perhaps it’s the minimal percussion that allows my mind to wander, I find there’s nothing to grasp onto, as elongated passages of ghostly ambient atmospherics slip and writhe. Then the track just fades away into nothing, and you’re left bewildered and ultimately disappointed.
Grails were a new band to me, not sure how they slipped under my radar, given my propensity for instrumental rock music. But there it is, knowing that they’ve been around since 1999 and have released a ton of music only adds to the anxiety of writing words about an album that I enjoyed in passing. Hooked in by the alure of the superb lead track ‘Sad & Illegal’, I expected more of the same. The band certainly presented me with an alternative approach to the instrumental genre and for that, it’s an intriguing album. But it lacked a little oomph for this listener and as it progressed, became increasingly ponderous. Having said that, Anches En Maat is an accomplished and brilliant album in terms of production and stunning arrangements.
