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Mar 24, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Hörður Sveinsson

John Grant has announced a new album, Boy from Michigan, and shared its title track via a video for it. Boy From Michigan was produced by Welsh musician Cate Le Bon and is due out June 25 via Partisan in the U.S. (and Bella Union in the U.K.). Check out the “Boy from Michigan” video below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art.

Boy from Michigan is the follow-up to 2018’s Love Is Magic and 2015’s Grey Tickles, Black Pressure. A press release says the album is Grant’s “most autobiographical and melodic work to date.” Casey and Ewan directed the animated video for “Boy from Michigan.”

Grant had this to say about the new single in the press release: “I discovered the chord progression in the chorus of ‘Boy from Michigan’ on my OB6 back when I was working on ‘Love is Magic,’ and while I knew it would eventually become a song, I didn’t know what to do with it yet. Sometimes you just know you need to take your time with certain ideas. The song sprang from a moment I experienced when I was about 11 and we were about to move to Colorado from Michigan; my best buddy took me aside and warned me about ‘the world out there’ - so the song is about the transition from childhood to adulthood, the simplicity and innocence of childhood and the oftentimes rude awakening that occurs when one crosses over into adulthood. It’s also about romanticizing the past, which can be dangerous. I don’t believe one can or should live in the past, but if you ignore it, well, you know. I also have to say there are moments when I actually relive the scent of early spring as the snow was beginning to melt revealing the wet Earth beneath. It’s incredible.”

Last year Grant also sang guest vocals on the Lost Horizons song “Cordelia.”

Also be sure to read our in-depth 2013 article on Grant, one of the most honest and personal interviews we’ve ever done.

Also read our 2015 interview with John Grant on Grey Tickles, Black Pressure.

Plus read our The End interview with John Grant.

Boy from Michigan Tracklist:

1. Boy from Michigan
2. County Fair
3. The Rusty Bull
4. The Cruise Room
5. Mike and Julie
6. Best In Me
7. Rhetorical Figure
8. Just So You Know
9. Dandy Star
10. Your Portfolio
11. The Only Baby
12. Billy

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