Gran Bel Fisher
“Coin toss is it head or tails/In the fields of Ohio I set my sails/Longing for a life and change of scene/To be lost is not to be alone/Because the fun in the run is to surround yourself with everything you don’t know”
From “Far Cry” by Gran Bel Fisher
“The Littleton Funeral Home has been in my family since 1905,” explains GRAN BEL FISHER, who has grown accustomed to the barrage of questions about the family business. “Our attitude was that it was a very normal occupation. Working there gave me a different perspective on things: I realized early on that everyone has the same reaction to death. Ultimately, I think working there made me more sensitive to life.”
Indeed FULL MOON CIGARETTE finds GBF’s unique, life-affirming perspective fueled by his powerful and mellifluous voice, passionate songwriting, and consummate musicianship. Witness the title track, which opens with GRAN BEL playing a single piano note suddenly transformed into a complex piano fugue before exploding into a full-throttle rock groove with his gorgeous, soaring baritone. “The song is a reflection of my life,” he explains. “I started thinking about how I see everything: life, love and death and those themes embody this entire album. The songs are inspired by my everyday realizations of life.”
FULL MOON CIGARETTE is also about GRAN BEL FISHER’s utterly original songs and brilliant voice, which transcend fleeting fashions and simple categorization.
Baring this out are soul-stirring tracks like “Edible,” with its melodically-addictive chorus and GRAN BEL FISHER’s multi-octave voice, “Far Cry’s” emotive expression of dislocation and alienation, and “Moment,” which builds from a gentle Delta-blues croon to a ferocious, primal roar. Elsewhere, the gorgeous ballad “Bound by Love” explores the tension and release of heartache and solace while the anthemic “Crash and Burn” showcases GBF’s accomplished piano playing while simultaneously “burning the whole place down.”
