Coming from that seemingly bottomless well of talent and great music that is Melbourne, Paddy Mann, aka Grand Salvo, has created one of the treasures of recent times in Slay Me In My Sleep. If you’re feeling autumnal I guarantee it will equally cheer you up if you’re down, clear your head if you don’t know whether to zig or zag, or simply make you want to make more soup and tea before taking a walk along the canal kicking and crunching leaves as you go. Autumn, you have to love it.
The album was mostly recorded in Berlin with composer Nils Frahm, who also played piano on the record, and features vocals from Heather Woods Broderick, Laura Jean and Luluc’s Zoe Randall. It’s a unique narrative, a tale of star-crossed lovers in a way, following the story of a boy who breaks into an old woman’s home and discovers an antique photo of a girl, instantly falling in love. When he returns again for the photo the old woman is waiting, and so it begins…
You can listen to the album here through his website. Enjoy, it’s captivating. And there’s a few songs from other records at the end of it too.
Tonight Grand Salvo plays the equally cosy and smoky as hell backroom in Ae, free entry as always.
Here’s what to expect, Needles:
Under the guise of Grand Salvo, Paddy Mann has established himself as a songwriter of unique heart and soul with a depth of lyricism matched by a warm but widescreen musical vision. 2009’s Soil Creatures sealed his reputation, being his most stark and concise statement yet. With Slay Me In My Sleep, Mann has crafted a song cycle narrative similar to his epic fairytale from 2008, Death. An exploration of time and memory, it is a tale of star-crossed lovers. A delinquent boy breaks into an old woman’s home and discovers an antique photo of a girl, instantly falling in love. When he returns again for the photo the old woman is waiting, and so it begins…
Set to expansive and joyous instrumentation, Slay Me In My Sleep is a lavishly decorated and unabashed romantic melodrama. Intricate percussion, harp, recorder and woodwind play to the quick, restless pulse of youth, while in the sparer settings cello, gentle guitar and delicate piano reflect the melancholy of old age and longing. Slay Me In My Sleep also marks the first use of an electric guitar in any Grand Salvo recording.
Slay Me In My Sleep was largely recorded and co-produced in Berlin by composer Nils Frahm, who has worked extensively with other singular artists such as Peter Broderick and Greg Haines. Frahm’s exquisite piano work appears throughout, alongside vocal contributions by Heather Woods Broderick, Laura Jean and Luluc’s Zoe Randall.
After the masterful Soil Creatures, Paddy Mann has once again extended himself on Slay Me In My Sleep, telling a tale of strange love with vivid detail, whimsy and beauty, in the special way only he knows how.
