Seattle quintet Great Grandpa nearly dissolved in 2021, pulled apart by geography and circumstance. When they reconvened two years later, they scrapped most of what they had started and began again. Patience, Moonbeam is the result: eleven songs that swing between weight and lightness, produced and mixed by band member Dylan Hanwright without outside help.
The structures bend in unexpected ways. "Doom" opens with pitch-shifted choir before crashing into full kit. "Kiss the Dice" layers cough-like percussion loops under smooth vocal lines. "Ephemera" takes cues from Portishead, moving through multiple sections and tempos. Pat Goodwin still writes most of the frameworks, but this time all five members contributed more equally. The approach could have felt scattered. Instead it holds together, probably because these people have been playing together for a decade.
The album's centre is "Kid", written after a pregnancy loss. Elsewhere "Never Rest" addresses new parenthood, and several tracks pick at the discomfort of getting older. Not every moment lands with the same force, but the band sounds more assured than on 2019's Four of Arrows. Available on Bandcamp and streaming services in lossless formats, with vinyl and CD editions.
