Released April 19, 2010 Artist John Grant Label Bella Union | Length 51:16 Release date 19 April 2010 Producers Eric Pulido, John Grant | |
 | ||
Recorded July–October 2008 and May–July 2009 in Denton, Texas Queen of Denmark
(2010) Pale Green Ghosts
(2013) Genres Folk rock, Soft rock, Indie folk Folk rock albums The Courage of Others, The Trials of Van Occupanther, Antiphon, Le Noise, Bound by the Beauty | ||
John grant queen of denmark 2010 in full
Queen of Denmark is the debut solo album by former The Czars frontman John Grant, released on April 19, 2010 on the Bella Union label. Queen of Denmark is a collaboration between Grant and American folk rock band Midlake and produced by Grant himself in collaboration with Midlake members Paul Alexander and Eric Pulido. It was recorded over two four-months periods, July to October 2008 and May to July 2009, in Midlake's recording studio in Denton, Texas.
Contents
Reception
In the May 2010 issue of Mojo, the album received the seldom-awarded Instant Classic label. Following Joanna Newsom's Have One On Me, it is the second album to receive this honor since Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut in 2008. The reviewer wrote: "If Queen of Denmark were only comprised of ... self-lacerating ballads it would still be a work of transcendent beauty, but the second half of the album finds Grant confronting romantic loss with astonishing depth of feeling." In December, the magazine selected Queen of Denmark as its choice for the Best Album of 2010.
The BBC Music review website described the album as "One of the most deeply satisfying debut albums of recent times", and concluded: "Queen of Denmark transcends the sum of its influences by concentrating on the irresistible appeal of sad yet optimistic love songs, classy arrangements and a dark and handsome croon. Midlake’s only mistake is making John Grant’s startling debut better than their own records."
Mark Edwards wrote in The Sunday Times, "One listen to 'Where Dreams Go to Die', for example, and you’ll realise that while Grant can’t attain perfection in his actual life, he gets pretty close in his art."
The Guardian reviewer wrote that "after descending into a personal hell of booze, drugs and giving up music for waiting tables, the Coloradan [John Grant] has emerged with a colossus. Backed by superfans Midlake, these are songs of impossible love, near-suicide and redemption, with an air of vastness and contemplation recalling Dennis Wilson's masterpiece, Pacific Ocean Blue."
In The Independent, Andy Gill wrote of the album: "a near-perfect marriage of his warm baritone with their lush woodwind and keyboard textures, bring to tender life Grant's tales of growing up gay in the midwest."
Irish musician Sinéad O'Connor covered the track "Queen of Denmark" on her 2012 album How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?.
The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
All tracks written by John Grant.
Personnel
Midlake
Additional musicians
Songs
1TC and Honeybear5:06
2Marz3:58
3Where Dreams Go To Die6:04