Imagine the love child of Mary J. Blige and The Weeknd and you get Gallant. This twenty-something, soulful singer should be on everyone’s watch list, making powerful, emotional music and even new twists on a few rock and pop hits. His music has been slowly building since 2013 and he is now releasing new music that may lead to his first full length album.
As for his original music, his EP “Zebra” gives only a small snapshot into what we can expect from Gallant. “Manhattan,” one of his most popular songs from his debut, makes an atmospheric statement and a clear view into his musical style. A constant guitar and simple clapping rhythms make a solid foundation for his mysterious voice. There is also “Jupiter Grayscale,” a sultry slow ride that is similar to The Weeknd’s sexy style. It’s stays pretty low for most of the song then all the emotions sort of mix into a chaotic guitar solo.
While he was producing “Zebra,” he also released some covers separate from the album, reimagining songs by The Foo Fighters and even Kesha Rose, formally Ke$ha. He takes the popular “Learn To Fly” by The Foo Fighters and makes it as mysterious and haunting as he can, turning the song on its head and giving it an all-new emotional feel. For Ke$ha’s “Die Young,” he does the same thing. This typical bumping dance song now could possibly cause you to shed a tear. His breathy vocals transform the song into a somber, flowing art song that was the first song that really drew me into his music.
He is now releasing a number of singles from what seems to be his first album and they all show an air of maturity that seemed to occur in only a year since his EP. “Weight In Gold” starts out slowly with a high pitched vocal and airy synths, but the chorus hits hard with powerful swells and an equally powerful vocal performance from Gallant. The production quality has also increased which is always nice to hear because it means that the right people are seeing his talent.
“Open Up,” is actually pretty similar to “Weight In Gold” in the sense that it has quiet verses and strong choruses. With “Open Up,” however, there is a more aggressive nature to the song and it has a really interesting breathy melody that adds to the sexiness of the song. His voice is also more impressive than ever in this song, effortlessly floating to his high register. He has a very artistic vision of his music as well that can be seen in his visual for “Open Up” which is set in a car as it’s pouring down rain and is filmed oddly in the sense that you never fully see his face.
I’m expecting really big things for Gallant and hopefully we will hear news on his album soon. For now at least we can be graced by his angelic voice and powerful artistic aesthetic.
