STRANGELET - GRANT LEE PHILIPS
Since leaving Grant Lee Buffalo at the start of the millennium, Phillips has been consistent, if not stellar. While he wrote some of the best, underappreciated songs of the ’90s in his prior band, his solo albums have always been elegantly sung and recorded affairs, but the individual songs haven’t been particularly memorable. Yet, after last year’s delightful covers record (saluting Echo & the Bunnymen, the Church, Pixies, etc.) he has returned with a new album whose gems — “Soft Asylum (No Way Out)” and especially the mandolin-driven “Fountain of Youth” — are on par with those of his previous band. And even during the second-tier moments, there’s a sense that he’s regained his artistic footing. Billboard
