Will Grayson - Yet What Else After All

All art strives to bring its audience somewhere, to create an experience that is both novel and immersive. No small task for any medium. As a lover of music, I have no trouble letting a song or a record take me away, but it is rare that I am absorbed by the music, carried into a world that is both brand new and painfully familiar. And that is exactly what happens every time I start spinning the new full-length by Will Grayson, Yet What Else After All, an expansive journey through youth and memory.

Will Grayson is a solo musician who thinks like an orchestra, and the instrumentation on Yet What Else After All really has the feel of a symphony. The record is a splay of different dynamics and textures, placing grinding, near-dissonant rock anthems next to wounded acoustic ballads. Even the songs themselves feature dramatic, almost violent shifts: “Like a Death” is a panic attack juxtaposed with a daydream, while “Angels’ Wills and Diana’s Pills” jumps from jangly 4/4 indie-pop into a jolt of mathy and fuzzed-out rock.

In juxtaposition to this cacophony of sounds are the vocals on Yet What Else After All. The melodies are gentle, like the scrawl of a pencil as it writes, and that is just what his voice is doing. Will Grayson uses rapid-fire rhyme and multiple literary devices to brighten his language and delivery, all sung in a soulful croon. His lyrics are feathered strokes of the human experience, delving into the depths of relationships and the tangled messes that they can become.

Lines like “You know why / I’m callin’ tonight / because I can’t win that fight / if I have to face you” or “Your passive reaction / smacks of a pyrrhic attack” expertly capture the tiny intensities and anxieties that often manifest in relationships. Yet it’s not all misery; the lines “Last night I tried to tell you why / I became such an ambivalent guy / oh well, okay, alright” cheekily introduce the concept of ambivalence before immediately bringing it to life within the song.

Yet What Else After All plays like flipping the pages of a photo album. Each song captures an experience in sickly-sweet detail that pulls from the past those ghost notes of nostalgia. There are parts heavy and yet beautiful, moments of clarity next to fuzzy yet familiar feelings. Will Grayson has managed to press a dream to a record, and each listen has me dizzy like the moments just after waking up, trying to remember specifics but finding only deep emotions instead. It keeps sucking me back in, and I have no doubt it will do the same to you.

My Top Track: “Because He’s Hiding Something”

You can find more from Will Grayson via his Instagram page, @willgrayson. Then head to Spotify to stream Yet What Else After All, or hit his Bandcamp page to purchase your own copy.

Song Spotlight: Will Grayson's "I was Born with a Caulfield"

Artwork by Andrea Hellwig

“Be bold.”

Perhaps the most important advice ever given to me concerning art. It takes more than a little nerve to create something, even more to make something honest and true. Hard advice, but invaluable.

So much music today is born from swamps of compromise, but CT’s singer-songwriter Will Grayson has never shied away from bold decisions; rather, sprawling compositions, multifaceted arrangements, and sonic exploration are well-honed weapons in his arsenal. And lucky for us, he’s just returned with a new single, “I Was Born with a Caulfield,” one of his most ambitious and powerful takes yet.

Opening with plucky guitar chords, Will Grayson spits some quickfire spoken-word before bursting into lilting vocals as the instrumentation takes off beneath. Multiple guitars converge beneath his singing, mixing twangy clean tones with a vibrant acoustic and a wild fuzz. “I Was Born with a Caulfield” takes sharp turns between elements, the rhythm section slipping in and out to let the vocal shine and the guitars drive. A swell of reverb begins to overtake the tune as it dives into a coda bursting with handclaps, driving bass, and dolorous melodics.

“I Was Born with a Caulfield” is rich with texture and color, and beneath this vibrant landscape of fuzzy guitars and energetic grooves lies a dynamic and lively composition. The vocals lead the tune along a winding path that never circles back; rather, the song continually evolves as it goes, beginning with a soft, jubilant progression and culminating in a full-band explosion. Yet despite the lack of a chorus or verse structure, Will Grayson’s melodies and harmonic chord progressions keep me locked in as I journey with him to the final fading piano notes.

The gentle yet undeniable surge of energy that grows across the length of “I Was Born with a Caulfield” is reflected in the song’s lyrics. The opening poetics are calm, delivered in an almost sarcastic voice, until Will Grayson slips into singing with the line “A silence rallies around the room.” Yet that silence splits immediately, blooming into splashes of guitar work led by the statement “You already know what comes next.” The final suite of the single launches like a bullet with the line “The first to the door is the first to get shot,” pushing the tune’s headbanging groove to completion in a gentle collapse. Grayson’s lyrics lead this odyssey along, his writing as fearless as the composition evolving beneath his words.

“I Was Born with a Caulfield” is a beautiful balance of intelligent writing and unabashedly fun instrumentation. As a precursor to Will Grayson’s upcoming album Yet What Else After All, its fun melodies and expansive arrangements stand as good omens for this new release. Will Grayson is an artist who understands the importance of being bold in his music, a fact that sets him apart from other singer/songwriters. If “I Was Born with a Caulfield” is any indication, Yet What Else After All may be his boldest release yet, and I for one cannot wait for it.

You can find more from Will Grayson, including live shows and updates, by following him on Instagram: @willgraysonmusician. Then head over to his Bandcamp and/or Spotify and stream the new single "I was Born with a Caulfield" off his upcoming full-length, Yet What Else After All, releasing September 21st.

Bridgeroom / Will Grayson - Split #2 EP

One of the best aspects of my local music scene is how supportive and collaborative it can be. I regularly see artists working together to stay afloat in this oft-unforgiving pursuit of making music. Whether by cross-promoting shows or guest-spotting on recordings, CT’s musicians constantly reaffirm that none of us are in this alone, even in the most trying of times. One shining example of this community spirit is the latest split between Bridgeroom and Will Grayson, two acts bolstering each other’s songs and sadness on one release.

Bridgeroom’s songwriting on this split captures the feeling of disconnection that depression and anxiety can create, how when even in a crowded room and surrounded by friends, we can feel so alone.  “Break You Down” juxtaposes quick fuzzy guitar melodies and a fun full band arrangement against some of the loneliest vocals I’ve ever heard, while “You Won’t” rings like a howl in the middle of the night. Still, all is not lost—the uplifting melodies of “A Taunt Well Done,” while not quite resolving the sadness, at least let us come to terms with the feeling, creating a catharsis for the first side of the record.

Will Grayson’s tunes similarly places vibrant instrumentation against morose musing. “Every Week Has Its Day” plays with danceable drum rhythms and a bright synth, while “Failed States” features a wandering vocal melody over three guitars that flit between the speakers. The final track “Once A Week Won’t Kill You” blooms like a flower, spacing out powerful vocals with an ever-expanding instrumental bridge.

Like his instrumentation, Bridgeroom’s vocals are pained by old memories, somehow simultaneously longing for the past while wishing it had never come to pass. Every word is laden with enough weight and emotion to almost leave bruises. Lines like “It’s all already been said / But I’ll continue going / over it again” in “You Won’t” or “I dug up these old letters / from a box on my shelf / I’ll never throw them out / ‘cause I tell myself they help” suggest a pain almost too comforting in its familiarity. There is no veil between the emotion and intention in Bridgeroom’s lyrics—every line is a fresh wound displayed for all to see.

Where Bridgeroom relies on frank reality in imagery, Will Grayson shapes vivid metaphors to communicate emotion. “Every Week Has Its Day” plays with sequences of time in both its title and in the lines “We’re warring all spring / summer falls dead in the heat / we take off winter to sleep / and then the seasons repeat.” Similarly, “Failed States” applies a political framework to a romantic relationship, where communication suddenly becomes a negotiation. Will Grayson employs frameworks of imagery to enclose the emotion of the song, giving each piece a context outside of itself from which it can draw meaning.

Both Bridgeroom and Will Grayson bring their best to their sides of this split, but even more interesting is how their sides work together to create a comprehensive listening experience. Both artists sequence their songs in a mirrored manner; Track 1 flaunts upbeat tempos and powerful instrumentation, while Track 2 drops down into a gentle sway of sadness. Both artists focus their final pieces on dynamics—“A Taunt Well Done” wavers between quiet strumming and full-band swells, while “Once A Week Won’t Kill You” slowly builds an epic odyssey of instruments across its 7-minute existence. This similar structuring helps to create a cohesive adventure of the split, providing two unique perspectives on the same progression of sound.

The songs collected by both Bridgeroom and Will Grayson on this EP fit together like puzzle pieces. Each artist brings a distinct sound and style to the table, yet their collaborative approaches reflect the growing communal spirit of CT’s music scene. Splits like this are just one of the many ways musicians can come together and support each other in their artistic endeavors, and remind me just how high we can reach we can be when we give one another a boost.

My Top Tracks: “A Taunt Well Done” and “Failed States”

You can find more from these artists, including live shows and updates, by following Bridgeroom on Facebook and Will Grayson on Instagram. Then head over to these acts’ Bandcamp pages and pick up your own copy of their second split (as well as the first one!).

Bridgeroom Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bridgeroom-1966562993619055/

Bridgeroom Bandcamp: https://bridgeroom.bandcamp.com/

Will Grayson Bandcamp: https://willgrayson.bandcamp.com/

Will Grayson Instagram: @willgraysonmusician