Let's end on something Grate

To finish off our stylish artists bio's from Splendour in the Grass we are going to end with the newly turned duo.. THE GRATES

Two of my favorite people in music are back to tear the place apart with what we could only imagine would be a freakin awesome show this weekend! Patience and John have now put the finishing touches of their third album, Secret Rituals which was released last month and are hitting the stage in a new way. This is their first album as a duo, since Alana has left to focus on a new career in the culinary arts. We had nothing to do with that decision FYI. She didn't leave music entirely though, she is now the drummer for Neil Finn's latest project, The Pajama Club. The band also consists of Neil's wife Sharon and Sean Donnelly.

As for The Grates, who are graduates of the School of the Performing Arts, they recorded their new album in Brooklyn with producer Gus van Go (The Stills). The fruit of an intensive period of time locked up in the studio in Brooklyn is that the album is  a well-groomed, alt-rock meditation that marks a distinctive turning point in their career. The sound is blistering with compressed distorted guitar, mature lyrical vocal arrangements, adding keyboardist and session drummer to (blasphemous) bass guitar, and is slickly produced by John O'Mahoney (Metric, Coldplay). 

So now they are back in their native Australia for now to promote the new album and tour with The Hives as well as rock the stage (as they always to) at Splendor on Saturday Night. The Grates with Secret Rituals are confident enough to play around with their own sound that they have dared to ditch much of what made them The Grates.  Can they survive this critical rebirth and find a wider audience? Only time and patience will tell; Pun intended.

Peace x