When Grant-Lee Phillips declares, “Strange days have begun,” it’s hardly shocking news. Like so many others, this thoughtful bard is struggling to process the chaos of modern life. After chronicling his pandemic experience on the brilliant album 2022’s All That You Can Dream, Phillips has some thoughts to share about what’s happening now. Fusing intimate vignettes and blunt social commentary, the compelling In the Hour of Dust is a clear-eyed and ultimately hopeful account of one man’s response to dismaying times.
Over a career stretching back to the ‘90s, first as leader of the band Grant Lee Buffalo and then as a solo artist, Phillips has assumed a variety of guises, from dynamic rocker influenced by Springsteen and T. Rex to thoughtful folk observer. Paring the music down to essentials over time, he’s reached the point where his smart songs are always paramount. A down-to-earth singer who embodies weathered tenderness, Phillips supports the tunes with his vivid acoustic guitars and no-frills backing from Jay Bellerose (drums), Jennifer Condos (bass), and Patrick Warren (keyboards).
