GRAVES
“Constellation Says” by Graves out now on Night Bloom
Planet Earth 2020 is starving for the real. No more fake news, fake blues, simulacra, or velcro blue suede shoes. For those seeking the real, might I suggest Graves.
Graves, AKA Greg Olin, has been sharing his vision to the delight of listeners for many beautiful moons, and Constellation Says is his best album yet, cut in Northern California with a crack team of West Coast all stars (members of Vetiver, Little Wings etc).It is an oasis of calm, of centered reality, in a world which, to be frank, is feeling a little dumb. It doesn't grasp or beg for your attention. It is self-contained and self-assured. Greg has created his own world, one in which everyone is welcome. And just when he's lulled you in, a clever turn of phrase slaps you and says, "wake up."
The music of Graves has been unshakably true since its inception. Not bullshitting or cloying. It's power without deafening volume and strength without teeth-clenching. It's a calmness that can't be faked. It has to be earned, through time, wrinkles, laughter, sadness, joy, and bearing witness to life's changes.
The album title conjures an evening outside. We imagine stars peeking through an evening fog, a cozy fire to stave off the cold winds, and sharing the fire with you is the wittiest, funniest friend you know, cracking you up. That is Greg. That is Greg's music.
His music is 'island music' but for people in rain boots and parkas with pot-belly stoves who drink way too much coffee instead of neon green margaritas.
He comes from a long line of West-Coast Wizards, I call them. Surfers, skaters, dreamers, do-ers. But he brings his own flavor. It is psychedelic music, but not wildly so. It is an inward psychedelia. He has undertaken the journey for all of us, and brought back funny notes, wrapped in a warm musical blanket.
Words by Bill Baird