Gritz King.
“Valentine,” the first song off Gritz King’s The Breakfast EP, starts off with drums that strut with confidence, a beat that means business. “I’m walking, I’m drinking, I’m laughing,” a voice intones, as guitar, bass, and organ bubble up from beneath it. “Everyone’s walking.”
The beat rolls on as the vocal turns into a bit of a croon. Then the guitar launches into something that shreds, but it’s just setting the stage for a duet with a saxophone. The energy rises and rises, but there’s that beat, still strutting on, holding everything down.
Cover of The Breakfast EP.
The prevailing vibe on “Valentine” — that everything’s going to be fine — holds for the rest of the New Haven-based artist’s EP, which finds a sweet spot on the smoother side of R&B without losing sight of a little roughness. King (first name Stephen) created most of the album himself, doing “original production and sounds on all tracks,” as he informed the Independent, and having “a few people add live instrumentation after.” King’s steady hand makes the album strong. His collaborate with some of New Haven’s finest R&B musicians makes it that much richer.
“Valentine” features Anthony Greco Love on bass and guitar and Jeremiah Fuller on synth bass. “Sensei,” which features Jason Fitch soloing on alto sax solo, is pure bedroom, with a chorus of voices in the back and scintillating keyboards moving the pulsing beat along.
“Newish” dips into a hip-hop head bob, with Trek Culbreth’s tenor sax and King’s alto swinging behind a heavy, lurching beat and swelling synths. And “Please Don’t” keeps up the sensuousness as King takes center stage on alto, supported by Anthony Greco Love on bass and guitar.
“Spread your wings, but just don’t fly away,” King sings. As the beat drops out and a piano takes over, guest vocalist Laney Lynx toys with the words King used. No matter what she says, you know she’s leaving in the end. But you also know King will be all right without her, too. The Breakfast EP is aptly titled, a first taste of what King has to offer. This listener is already hungry for lunch.