Patience, Moonbeam (Blue Vinyl)

There was a moment in the spring of 2021 when Great Grandpa didn’t know if they would go on. They had just begun work on the follow-up to 2019’s Four of Arrows that Fall when each member was called in different directions—to new countries, new jobs, new life stages. But as with any good relationship built on mutual love, trust, and a mountain of shared history, the quintet—who grew up in Seattle and have been making music together for a decade—were drawn back into one another’s orbits in 2023. They decided to scrap most of what they had previously recorded and start afresh, this time with the new perspective of their momentous years apart. The resulting album—the ambitious and deeply moving Patience, Moonbeam—is the sound of lifelong friends and collaborators growing up and growing together.

Swinging like a pendulum from heavy to tender, playful to weighty, these 12 songs seem to paint a sonic illustration of the pains and pleasures of being alive.