‘Death Of An Optimist’ represents the artist’s debut album
The album is the beginning of a grand rollout, which includes an upcoming film
Alt-rock fans have kept a close eye on rising artist Jordan Edward Benjamin, better known as grandson, for quite some time now. After releasing three EPs, aptly titled the ‘modern tragedy’ trilogy, the rocker is back with his first full project. Two and a half years later, grandson has finally unleashed his debut studio album, ‘Death Of An Optimist.’
The debut is a brash 12 tracks that push the genre of rock in directions never seen before. The album sees the artist blending sounds reminiscent of Twenty One Pilots, Weezer and Skrillex in a unique, stylistic manner.
The album also sees the artist expand outside of his small circle and collaborate with other big-name artists in the rock industry. A handful of contributions come from Blink-182’s Travis Barker, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and Andrew Dawson.
Over the album’s nearly 40-minute duration, grandson leans into heavy rock further than ever before and isn’t afraid to delve into rapping for his fans at times either. Throughout the album’s concept, the artist demonstrates a battle between his two alter-egos, “G” and “X.”
“G,” a man who believes that change can be done for the better in the world, shines on lighthearted tracks with a positive attitude. “X,” however, believes that the world is too far gone for change to make a difference, or simply doesn’t believe that the world deserves change for the better. The artist dives deep into these alter egos, often switching back and forth throughout verses on songs.
The excruciatingly long wait for his debut album is far from the end of the project’s rollout. On top of multiple singles that were released beforehand, as well as the album itself, grandson is selling tickets to a live stream event titled “Death Of An Optimist: The Movie” that will take place on Dec. 17. Tickets can be purchased beforehand for the special, one-night event.
What may be seen as an album filled with negativity and despair for the bulk of the project leads to a happy ending on the hint towards his next project, “Welcome to Paradise.” G may be singing about better days ahead as people band together to make a change for good.
On the other hand, others believe that it may be X discussing a pipe dream that too many people choose to take part in during these tragic times in reality. It’s left to the listener to choose what they believe. No matter what may lie ahead, fans are sure that we’ll see grandson delivering his loud, defiant sound for years to come.
Review: 4.5/5