"People need to hear you and we're going to make it happen," Midlake told John Grant when volunteering to serve as his backing band on Queen Of Denmark. Despite four highly rated records with Denver-formed outfit the Czars, Grant was waiting tables and studying for a certificate in Russian medical interpreting when Midlake — the Denton, Texas, band behind albums such as The Courage Of Others — offered their services.

The resulting record frames Grant's unimpeachable baritone with the utmost sensitivity. Sonic touchstones include 1970's soft-rock by the likes of Bread, Harry Nilsson and the Carpenters. The twist is the record's inspired use of spooky old analogue synths, which lay incongruously (and intriguingly) alongside lonesome piano arpeggios, gently ticking acoustic guitar, flute and strings.

Lyrically speaking, Grant could hardly be more candid. "JC Hates Faggots" addresses growing up gay within a strict religious family, while "I Wanna Go to Marz" — think Glen Campbell down the line to NASA — yearns for a happier corner of Grant's childhood, its titular drugstore's wish-list of ice cream sundae names intoned like a prayer.

More than anything, Queen of Denmark dissects lost love. Indeed, it largely concerns one particular loss that… read more »