JOHN GRANT Queen Of Denmark (2010 UK 12-track CD album - Former singer / songwriter with Bella Union cult favorites The Czars, John Grant returns with an extraordinary debut solo album made with Midlake. It's a record of gravitas and grace, of FM melody magic laced with raw emotional bleeding. It asks why relationships are roulette and love is hell in a last-ditch attempt at self-improvement and atonement after years of alcohol and cocaine dependency. And on top, to further the album's brilliance, Grant's backing band on the album are Bella Union label-mates Midlake, contributing their most empathic '70s-style soft-rock know-how. Put simply, 'Queen Of Denmark' is the record Grant's been waiting his whole life to make. 'Queen Of Denmark' was recorded in Denton in late 2008 through 2009 in the studio downtime while Midlake were recording their own record. The album moves through simple piano settings via an infusion of period-perfect synths that epitomise the lonely mood. There's flute from Midlake frontman Tim Smith on the dreamiest cut 'Marz' and velvet strings on 'Dreams', which imagines Scott Walker influenced by Patsy Cline. There is pure longing in the opening 'TC And Honeybear' and bitterly sarcastic anger in the magnificent title track finale… Pain, hope, fear, regret and self-discovery. 'Queen of Denmark' has it all, framed within some of the finest songs you'll hear in this or any other year).