John Grant

United States

John Grant began his career as frontman of the Czars, a Colorado-based band whose music split the difference between shoegaze, dream pop and alternative country. Fuelled by Grant’s songwriting and rich baritone voice, the band released a pair of independent albums in the 1990s before signing with Bella Union, a British label run by two former members of the Cocteau Twins. The Czars built a small international audience in the new millennium, but albums like Before…But Longer and The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People failed to attract a larger following, and the group broke up in 2004.

After the split Grant moved to New York and began working as a sideman for bands like Midlake and the Flaming Lips, while continuing to write songs. In 2009 members of Midlake joined him in the studio as his backing band for his first solo project. The resulting album — a quirky, cynical record titled Queen of Denmark — was released by Bella Union in 2010.