Al Menne came up in the music scene as the lead singer of Seattle-based rock band Great Grandpa. In this outfit, Menne’s remarkable voice—capable of quicksilver flicks between vocal registers—was on full display, despite not being the primary songwriter. Shortly after the release of their 2019 album “Four of Arrows”, Great Grandpa took a break due to personal and geographical life changes within the band. This pause opened up the opportunity for Menne to explore new musical pockets and step into their own as a songwriter. Aside from the occasional posting of half-finished demos on Bandcamp, “Freak Accident” marks their first official foray as a solo artist. “Making this album was proving to myself that I could do it, that I could feel ownership over something,” they said. In August of 2021, Menne relocated from Seattle, where they had spent their whole life, to Los Angeles. It was there that they found themselves in the orbit of an impressive cast of collaborators and friends that brought “Freak Accident” to life, including producer Christian Lee Hutson, engineer and mixer Melina Duterte (Jay Som), and guitarist Meg Duffy (Hand Habits). Over the next year and a half, from within Duterte’s snug attic recording studio in Atwater, the crew crafted the world of these nine songs, which are filled with clever melodies and honeyed, homespun rock arrangements that showcase Menne’s taut songwriting. At just under thirty minutes, “Freak Accident” is an inviting meditation on seeking protection from life’s chaotic thunderbolts in our relationships and connections. These songs, like small smooth rocks pocketed for self-soothing, serve to shore us up against situations that are ultimately out of our control. On tracks that veer through canyons, careen across highways, and wend through the avenues of memory, Menne offers us a way through.
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