Grandpa Was A Lion
Caged Birds
GWAL

I noticed Grandpa Was A Lion (GWAL), a.k.a. Justin D'Onofrio, some years back when exposed to his mini-album Dancer back in 2010. Some fine albums followed, The Whalestoe Tapes (2011) and Mona Lisa Apple (2012), and this 'new' single (ooops, it was launched quite several moonths ago on March 18, 2016) "Caged Birds" is another fine moment where D'Onofrio show his melancholy song-writing skills.

Justin D'Onofrio tags his GWAL music project as 'experimental lo-fi folk', but don't let that scare you away. This is low-voiced pop music with heart and soul. "Caged Birds" is a mild breeze of a song which is a fine moment for all seasons. It is not a joyous song, but it is a touching and appealing one. You'd better go check out this song as well as his older songs/albums. "Caged Birds" is a song starting with harmonica, (fake?) strings and a spoken word sample which turns into a joyful, drunk-sounding (?) bawl (a sampled sequence from a Western movie...?) before the song glides into a Sufjan Stevenesque or Andrew Birdish ballad with D'Onofrio's mild vocals and a soft-touch acoustic guitar. Elegance and grace for sure. Go check out his Bandcamp site. '...and I know why the caged birds sing, and I know why...'. Support the Indian native tribes!

Copyright © 2017 H. Oppøyen