Today, we have been granted a whole album's worth of bedroom demos and covers, both released and unreleased, from Seattle's esteemed chamber pop outfit, Grand Hallway (who are another one of those bands that are difficult to find in a Google image search; though I did see a lot of nice chandeliers and marble work in the process).
It's only frontman Tomo Nakayama here on these recordings, and it's truly lovely to hear some familiar songs in their simplest form, before the elaborate and often dramatic workings of the whole band come into play. The extent of Nakayama's stunning songwriting abilities had not been so apparent to me until now.
Here's the demo for "Raindrops," which is on Grand Hallway's latest, Promenade. I like the alarm clock beforehand: no mistaking where this was recorded.
Grand Hallway- "Raindrops (demo)"
And as for the covers, well...
Grand Hallway- "Golden Girls"
To redeem your digital gift—an e-mail address wraps it—head to their Bandcamp site. And don't forget to say "thank you," ingrate.