Grand Hallway
Promenade
Second album from Seattle octet featuring ten lush, baroque pop songs of epic scope and vision. Sweeping strings, piano, pedal steel, and accordion, backing soaring tenor vocals.
"Promenade", the sophomore album from Grand Hallway, is easily the most adventurous and accessible work the Seattle octet has produced. Evoking myriad influences such as The Smiths, Andrew Bird, the Beach Boys, and Nina Simone, Grand Hallway have refined and expanded upon the chamber-pop sound of their debut album, maturing into a dynamic ensemble with an utterly unique musical vision. With a little help from good friends Heatwarmer, Cory Gray (Laura Gibson, Norfolk&Western, Carcrashlander), and Goh Nakamura, they recorded ten songs that incorporate elements of Japanese and European folk, African polyrhythm, Minimalism, Country&Western, lush Orchestral Pop, Post-Rock, and even a dash of Doo-Wop. The album artwork is by the band's frequent collaborator Heisuke Kitazawa/PCP (Her Space Holiday, Postal Service, Trespassers William).
"Promenade" is a fractured narrative of the dissolution of one relationship and the beginning of another, and singer Tomo Nakayama narrates each story in an unabashedly romantic and naked lyrical voice. The music is dense and raucous in places, translucent and sparse in others. The songs feel familiar, but do not belong in any one era. The Grand Hallway is the space and time which we all inhabit. It is the past, the present, and the future, all unfolding at once. We are constantly on the move, going from room to room, indoors to outdoors, searching for a place to be 'til we are no longer. Along the way there are glimpses of beauty, moments of human connection, and those are the moments that Grand Hallway seek to capture.
Pop: Chamber Pop