10 Best Grant McLennan Solo Songs

In tandem with Robert Forster, Grant McLennan was a vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for literate Australian jangle-pop band The Go-Betweens. While The Go-Betweens were on hiatus during the 1990s, Grant McLennan embarked on a solo career, releasing four solo albums, two albums with The Church’s Steve Kilbey, and one album with the Far Out Corporation.

I’m not going to pretend that McLennan’s 1990s work outshines his songs in the 1980s with The Go-Betweens. It’s certainly not uncommon for pop musicians to do their best writing in their twenties, and there’s a sense of McLennan struggling to find his solo identity. After balancing perfectly with the acerbic, angular Forster in The Go-Betweens, he could be a little overwhelmingly saccharine by himself, and he flirted awkwardly with the mainstream on his debut Watershed.

But 1993’s darker Fireboy and 1994’s countrified double album Horsebreaker Star are excellent. McLennan is one of my favourite songwriters, like a comforting blanket with his warm voice and melodic charm. McLennan didn’t get the chance to add to his solo catalogue after The Go-Betweens’ reunion in the 2000s, dying prematurely from a heart attack in 2006.

Some of these songs weren’t available on Spotify or YouTube – at least in New Zealand – so I had to upload them to YouTube myself. Apologies to songs like ‘Coming Up For Air’ and ‘Lighting Fires’ that missed missed the final cut.

10 Best Grant McLennan Solo Songs

#10 In Your Bright Ray

from In Your Bright Ray, 1997
In Your Bright Ray is McLennan’s most normal record – he’s not chasing hits or going country. The title track is beautifully restrained, a sunny, thoughtful piece of pop.


#9 Girl in a Beret

from Horsebreaker Star, 1994
McLennan’s third album was an unexpected detour, decamping to Georgia and recording a 24-track Americana record. Horsebreaker Star is a showcase of strong and prolific songwriting. Yet it’s a little languid at times – ‘Girl in a Beret’ benefits from its contrast, a snappy piece of power-pop that lacks the country touches that dominate the rest of the record.

https://youtu.be/_–0QyPyKTY

#8 Comet Scar

from In Your Bright Ray, 1997
McLennan worked with a crack Australian band on his final solo album, with members taken from Died Pretty, Knievel, Underground Lovers, and The Church. Even though it’s not his strongest set of songs, a little on the lightweight side, the band elevates these songs. There’s a great organ part running through ‘Comet Scar’, livening up a typically warm and jangly McLennan tune.


#7 Easy Come, Easy Go

from Watershed, 1991
Of McLennan’s solo albums, the absence of his creative partner Forster is felt most keenly on Watershed. Without Forster’s darker material to balance him, McLennan sounds overly lightweight and saccharine by himself. ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’ is a highlight, however, the kind of tuneful and jangly song that McLennan could probably write in his sleep.


#6 The Ballad of Easy Rider

from Horsebreaker Star, 1994
McLennan didn’t record many covers – the only other I can think of is an interpolation of Bob Dylan’s ‘Love Minus Zero’ on a live Go-Betweens album. But this version of The Byrds’ song from the movie Easy Rider is gorgeous. Rather than a slavish copy, it adds to the brief acoustic original – slowing it down and adding gorgeous guitar work and harmonies, and a coda.


#5 Black Mule

from Watershed, 1991
The best song from McLennan’s solo debut is the most unusual. With its curt chorus and lengthy, story-telling verses, ‘Black Mule’ has an unusual shape. It’s a kind of nihilistic fable, a series of wondrous experiences (“led him by the hand to a cave/took him into a world of limestone”). Here’s a live version, from The Go-Betweens’ 2006 live album That Striped Sunlight Sound.


#4 Riddle in the Rain

from Fireboy, 1993
McLennan’s work is often haunted by loss. He lost his father at a young age, as referenced in The Go-Betweens classic ‘Cattle and Cane’. And his breakup with Go-Betweens’ multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown looms large over McLennan’s solo work in the 1990s. The loss of Brown is felt keenly in this lengthy, stripped-down tale of loss that closes Fireboy. “Tell me who do I pay to get rid of your ghost.”

https://youtu.be/s6DD-f43Rfw

#3 Surround Me

from Fireboy, 1993
There’s a sense of McLennan’s record company trying to break him as a solo star in the 1990s, not an unreasonable move on the back of The Go-Betweens 16 Lovers Lane and ‘Streets of Your Town’. In hindsight, ‘Surround Me’ seems like his best shot at the mainstream, with its huge chorus and catchy guitar work. Although McLennan always seems a touch too intelligent for the mainstream – “If you need a new religion, if you’re blown apart/Try dressing up like Josephine but look like Bonaparte” doesn’t read like a couplet from a hit song.


#2 Simone and Perry

from Horsebreaker Star, 1994
1994’s double album Horsebreaker Star was recorded in Athens, Georgia, and adds a country tinge to McLennan’s songs. Opener ‘Simone and Perry’ sets the tone nicely, similar to previous character sketches like The Go-Betweens’ ‘Right Here’. Those simple arrangement works – the bass line is straightforward, but sounds great.


#1 Fingers

from Fireboy, 1993
Like ‘Riddle in the Rain’, the ghost of Amanda Brown looms large over ‘Fingers’. Producer Dave Dobbyn gets a co-writing credit, but it’s a simple song with little more than a pretty piano figure and some sparse and elegant lyrics. “I still remember/The night you sang Moon River/The way the moonlight lay/Like a bracelet on your wrist.”


Are you a fan of Grant McLennan’s solo career? Did I miss your favourite McLennan solo song?

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19 Comments

  1. As of a month ago (thanks to you I believe), I”m now familiar with one Go Betweens – so I suppose this would be like hearing Wings after being at least introduced to the Beatles!

  2. I’ve been spinning the Go Betweens. Really enjoying it. I guess I’m in the state of mind for it. Good stuff!. After I listen to the album(s) I get random bands in the same vein on my player. Hearing some good new music and old favorites. Thanks.

    • I think they’re special – their songs have a kind of economy and elegance that makes me want to return to them. Lots of their 1980s’ album tracks are really good – ‘To Reach Me’, ‘Unkind and Unwise’, ‘Dive For Your Memory’, ‘I Just Get Caught Out’.

      • A couple of our mates on this blog thing steered me to Spotify so it’s easy access. Overwhelming so I have to focus for a while and really get the feel. I can hear why you like them so much. I’m going to continue to play them. Thanks again.

          • I was slowly pushed into it . I like it. Amazes me how for example after I play the Go Betweens album(s) it will continue on with what it feels is similar music. It hits the mark on it’ choices.
            (I’m going to feature a band next as a companion to Vinyl Connections ‘Various Artists’ that you might find interesting).

  3. I know the band ok but not this deep…but…after listening to all of these…they are really good. I also thought he did a great job on The Ballad of Easy Rider.

    • Yeah, Grant McLennan’s solo career is getting pretty niche – I had to put some of these songs on YouTube myself, which I’ve never had to do before for this site. But I have a lot of love for him – don’t find his warmth and intelligence everywhere.

    • Thanks for listening. McLennan’s a long-term favourite for me at this point – his songs have been with me a long time.

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Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person. It features album reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.

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Graham Fyfe has been writing this website since his late teens. Now in his forties, he's been obsessively listening to albums for years. He works as a web editor and plays the piano.

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