Grayson Gilmour: Phantom Limbs

By Tessa Prebble

Wellington musical prodigy Grayson Gilmour may seem to have sprung from nowhere, but this album is in fact his third solo release. Like his two earlier efforts 'Phantom Limbs' was performed entirely by Gilmour and recorded at the Stomach in Palmerston North. When Gilmour released the album on his own in 2005, 'Phantom Limbs' was highly appreciated among the select few that heard it. But because Gilmour packaged and sent out every album he sold, that number was not large. 'Phantom Limbs' has now been re-released after being remastered by Mike Gibson at Trident Sound. The re-release is pushing Gilmour's blend of Elliot Smith-like vocals, savage piano sound-scapes and syncopated rhythms to the unexpecting masses. Gilmour has the ability to move from delicate fragility to frenetic energy in a heartbeat, and uses this immediacy to hold the listener in a vice-like trance. After five years of remaining relatively unknown Gilmour's music is at last getting the recognition that it should have had all along.

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NZ Musician

August/September 2006