‘Grapefruit Chronicles’ is the debut release from Goodenough, the solo endeavour from Patrick Goodenough, who you may know from his time as guitarist and vocalist for The Compact Pussycat.
The seven-track release catalogues an incredible body of work that has been completely written, recorded and produced by Goodenough alone. This speaks volumes to the release considering not only the quality of Patrick’s songwriting, but also his ability to capture the feelings and stories wrapped up within his songs and deliver them with a gleaming finish.
‘Grapefruit Chronicles’ is undoubtedly a wall to wall collection of summer bangers, throughout the release you get a consistent feeling of late summer, with melancholic vibes combined with Goodenough’s deep and detailed layers of guitar. One of the best examples of this is in the track ‘I Can’t Wait To Be Alone’ that oozes out a relaxing sounds entwined Patrick’s subtle yet inviting harmonies.
Other tracks such as Sunburn seem to relate to the current state of the world and what life has been like over the last year or so. “I’m no fan of horrors, but staying home gets scarier each day” not only channels how some people would have felt over the various lockdowns we’ve experienced but also highlights general isolation.
Boxing girl, which featured in the setlists of Goodenough’s previous project The Compact Pussycat makes a welcome appearance on this release as well. Being someone who has experienced the song in both of its forms, I have to say that there is a certain charm in the way that it has been refined for the new project, as if it was a block of granite, being continually worked out and becoming even better which each new form that it takes.
Overall, this is a bright and exciting new release from Goodenough, it’s something that is easily replayable and undoubtedly only scratching the surface of what he has to offer.
Review by Rob McKelvey
For fans of Snail Mail, Courtney Barnett and Mac Demarco.
Listen to the record HERE…> Https://open.spotify.com/album/0jsRHej4ETOB85DZvk7yfX?si=pJLltWrITNKw6KoFUI4uXQ#=
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