MICHAEL GRANT & THE ASSASSINS : ‘Always The Villain’ – debut album by new US hard/alternative rock act out 10.07.20 via Frontiers

Frontiers Music Srl is thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of ‘Always The Villain’, the debut album by Michael Grant & The Assassins. The group play a diverse and exciting brand of hard rock music incorporating elements of alternative rock and metal, while exploring different textures, genres and influences. Band mastermind Michael Grant (who plays all instruments on the album) creates a sound that is intense, heavily melodic and anthemic, with the introductory single, ‘Red Light Run’, being a perfect illustration of this.

Grant states that “it took well over a year to make the album. There was such a massive learning curve in the actual recording process for me to be able to deliver. I had to write, arrange, record and produce everything, as well as play all of the instruments myself. I believe recording this way truly helped in bringing to fruition my full musical vision and signature sound. I couldn’t be more happy with the end result and I really loved recording this way.”

As for the single and its video, Grant adds that it is “about a beautiful, broken-hearted girl’s backfiring tale of revenge by way of sex, drugs and excess. The song goes even deeper than that and the video is suggestive of all of this.”

In the works since 2018, ‘Always The Villain’ has been a labour of love for this established talent. Prior to The Assassins, Grant was the creative driving force behind Endeverafter, a Sacramento (California capital) based alternative/hard rock band signed to Epic Records in the early ‘00s. Handling vocals, lead guitars and songwriting, Grant released two albums with the band before disbanding them in 2012. He then served as touring guitarist for L.A. Guns for five years, recording one album with them.

Prince, Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Guns ‘N Roses, David Bowie, Tom Petty  and In Flames are all influences on Grant and informed the sound of ‘Always The Villain’. He is now focused full-time on The Assassins, who have already played shows in the US, including a performance on the Monsters of Rock Cruise 2019. The band plans to get out and play shows again, as soon as the current world situation allows. Keep your ears open for one of the most fresh and inspired new acts to be heard in the world of hard rock music right now.

ALWAYS THE VILLAIN
TRACKLISTING
1  Barrel Of A Gun
2  Always The Villian
3  Killing Me Slowly
4  Nightmares
5  Red Light Run
6  Anthem Of Us
7  Break Me With U
8  Death Of Me
9  Runaway (Can You Stand The Rain)
10  Gimme Salvation
11  Secrets
album pre-order link
orcd.co/alwaysvillain