John Grant has gone through darkness and light with his music

John Grant was never the cheeriest man in music — and often with good reason. But Ed Power finds him in fine fettle as he prepares for his Cork gig

IS JOHN Grant happy? For most of his adult life he would have answered ‘no’ in a heartbeat. Grant grew up gay in a ultra-Christian household in the American Midwest; his early career in music was a parade of disappointments, strip-lit with drug and alcohol binges. He was for decades a living, breathing train-wreck.

But now things are different. His recently released third solo album, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, confirmed the Denver, Colorado native’s standing as one of the most individualist voices in independent rock.