BEAUX GRIS GRIS & THE APOCALYPSE is the music project of Louisiana-born entrepreneur and artist GRETA VALENTI and her collaborator and Well Hung Heart, Cornish musician, record producer and music director ROBIN DAVEY.
The band recently released an album “Good Times End Times” which explores any number of ominous themes. As Greta explains: “The collection of songs from this entire album were born out of a time of darkness, isolation, depression, frustration, and pure survival over the past two years.”
The first single taken from the disc, “’Fill Me Up’, is a white-hot zeal of sound, thudding with lewd innuendo, gunky beats, sweaty guitar, slick piano and suggestive vocals.
like a werewolf grinning at the expanding moonshine!
Though “Bungalow Paradise” is a piece of fluid, uncreased, jazz excitement with lovely icy bites of vocals, rat-a-tat percussion (Mark Barret), and the tiniest gulps of softened guitar.
“Alone” is similarly spongelike and fibrous. Here, Greta’s voice is more limpid (though not any warmer) while “Trouble Is Coming” has a nuanced guitar riff that is perfectly matched by flickering keys and various plinks & neighs from pianist Emma Jonson and bassist Stephen Mildwater. The tune establishes itself both psychologically and materialistically, bringing a sense of premonition. Clever!
Their own ‘band theme’ (if you like) “Gris Gris” is a bubbly version of Boutté’s 2003 “Treme” with honky-tonk piano laughs, bass giggles, and rhythm grins. It’s oddly light-hearted (odd, since it’s about getting closer to the cataclysm), but maybe that’s how we ought to approach the approaching apocalypse…yeah? Like a werewolf grinning at the ever-expanding moonshine!
If you like the cool wit of the Louisiana woods, and you like your vocals chillier than a plexiglas moon, this will be your next favorite album. Oh yeah, gris gris gusto!
Words: @neilmach 2022 ©
Photo Credit: Kaelin Davis
Grab the album now: https://lnk.to/goodtimesendtimes
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