Grant Pavol - Okay

Here is a question for you, dear readers: How would you like to be 19 years old, working on a college degree, producing and sending out press photos that look kind of like Tommy Hilfiger ads, and dropping your first EP on an unsuspecting public unaware of the finely composed five vignettes they are about to be exposed to?

I don’t know about you, but I would take even one of those possibilities right about now.  Philadelphia born and bred Grant Pavol gets to check ALL of the boxes as his first offering, “Okay” hits the airwaves and music vendors later this month.

The five tunes here are just diverse enough to not get rolled together into what could end up sounding like a singular work. Pavol’s lyrics on all cuts also are both intelligent and intelligible. There aren’t many 19-year-olds writing songs about the Spanish Steps  or the constant struggle between being strong and tough, and fragile, as he does on “Nested”

“Hair” is a perfect example of blended strumming and electronics, as the pleasing melody races along at a quick and appetite-whetting 1:40. The lyric of a handsome but maybe insecure person grabs the interest and amuses at the same time. “He’s so handsome, he’ll be alright” is the underlying story. Doesn’t everyone know someone who fits this description?

The previously mentioned “Nested” is a quirky tune in a quintet of more mainstream music. The attention-grabbing percussion grabs the ear immediately, and the three and half minute length gives the cut a more standard footing.   The beat is industrial in tenor and balances nicely with the slower and more calming flow. Personally, I think the lyric is the strongest example here, but all five grooves are above average in that department. 

The instrumentation on “Dark” is worthy of sustained listening. Throughout the entire context of the song, a muted heartbeat pound can be heard, but it doesn’t overshadow the fine guitar work. Some nice double tracking on the vocal also enhances the choruses and gives us just under two minutes of enjoyment. 

One of the strongest melodies is presented on “Vintage Clothes”. The acoustic guitar strumming meshes as if one with Pavol’s vocal to create the folkiest tune of the bunch. The songwriting ability is really nothing if not admirable.

“I Don’t Mind” finishes things off with a long list that the spoken to person may do without causing the narrator to flinch. Again, its less than two minutes in length, but it really doesn’t need anymore to get the point across. 

Even for an EP, “Okay” is over quickly at just about eleven minutes in length, but all eleven minutes are used at such a high level of quality that you don’t end up feeling cheated. If Pavol wants to make a living in the music world from here on out, he has anchored his career with a first-class introduction. Where he goes from here is open to all possibilities.