In tune with his habit of revisiting his old material, Paul has returned to his 2011 album 'Grimm', (long time deleted and sought after collector’s item) and strengthened it with the participation of Mick Crossley (Flyte Reaction), who added some psychedelic flourishes to the songs and gave the record an entirely new tone. “I had always considered it a very strong album but one lacking the presence of other musicians as I had played all the instruments myself,” Roland explained. “Now it has that personality that it lacked in its glorified ‘demo’ state and I’m very proud of it. In fact, I would say it is probably my personal favourite of all the albums I have made.”1
Crossley in turn described what he labelled as his “remote contribution” as follows, providing some fascinating asides about the project: “Paul sent me the 'Grimm' material as stereo mixes. My thoughts were not to drown it too much in many layers as the material was delicate and the songs were, in some respects, already complete. My remit (as ever) was to add a ‘psychedelic’ edge to the songs, so I tried to fit in parts that would add to an air of mystery and ‘otherness’ to the tracks. It was mainly guitar parts with echo, fuzz and rotary speaker sounds that I put on – parts that could be used almost at a distance so the listener could maybe only half hear something, like a dream part almost. Some of the solos I did had a definite ‘place’ in the songs but much of what I do is textural. I also added some percussion sounds, bones being knocked together and cymbals etc., and sang some echoed backing vocals very occasionally. I tried to keep my contributions reigned in a little which was really in the spirit of the whole thing – to keep the delicate nature of the songs intact.”2 The new version, tentatively titled 'Grimmer Than Grimm', has been ready for some time, and will see the light in 2018.
[extract from ‘The Devil’s Jukebox – An Expanded Paul Roland Biography’ by Roberto Curti (published by Unifaun Productions Sept 2018)
With demonstration-like audio by Alberto Callegari at legendary Elfo Studios who remastered the album for vinyl and cd, this is a 300 only run. 300 deluxe gatefold lp with audiophile coloured vinyl and 300 audophile paper sleeve golden CD. It won’t be repressed in this format anymore. So grab it while you may!
