John Grant arrived at the studio to begin recording his fifth solo record, Boy from Michigan, on 1st March 2020. So, basically right at the beginning of the pandemic nightmare and all throughout the Presidential campaign, he says. For Grant, lockdown was largely academic. He is insular by nature and removed himself from his native America in 2011, decamping to Iceland. From afar, the US Presidential race loomed large, though, igniting potent memories of the country which shaped John Grant. 2020s temporary destabilising of world order suits Boy from Michigans intent just fine.

Somewhere in the last decade, John Grant established himself as one of the great musical chroniclers of the American Dream, angled mostly from its flipside. What if everything you were promised, if you worked hard, loved hard, played and prayed hard, it all turned to ash? Thats where I was throughout this whole thing, he notes. These songs feel visceral to me. You end