Painting Over Mold by Graham Hunt feels like putting on a blanket that you’ve had in your attic for years, but forgotten all about. It feels like something that you’ve interacted with before, but know you haven’t. Graham has a way of connecting his music to people unlike any musician that I have seen before. There is a sense of familiarity, but yet uncertainty throughout the entirety of Painting Over Mold that I’m not sure anyone else could possibly recreate. The Madison based musician creates an album that feels very dense, but somehow keeps his runtime under 30 minutes in stature.
Painting Over Mold is created by a musician with uncertainties in his life, but wraps this uncertainty with hope, in an insanely catchy and entertaining way. This is best exemplified with the leadoff track off of this album, ‘Anything to Make It Better’. Instantly on the leadoff track, we get introduced to this warm room of sound consisting of plucky piano notes and Graham Hunt’s fantastic lyricism throughout. Add a fantastic chorus and you have yourself a song that I could see many people coming back for quite some time. This album is chock full of quality tracks, and Graham Hunt really showcases his attention to quality and detail on Painting Over Mold. I’ve covered many musicians while having this blog, and sometimes I feel as if there are tracks throughout a given album that don’t deserve a place on the record. This does not happen on Graham Hunt’s latest record.
Another standout track, ‘Scraping the Road’ feels like a great, americana tinged song that you’ll be listening to on your next great American road trip. It’s sing along qualities really took me back. And it was something that I immediately wanted to listen to again and again on repeat. I get exhausted by listening to so many records for this blog, and very rarely does something stick into my consciousness quite like the tracks on Painting Over Mold. These are songs that will grow on you, well, like mold and really resonate with you. Upon first listen it may not seem all that exciting, but I feel like the genius of Painting Over Mold lies throughout the fine details of the record. Hunt crafts songs that will sneak up on you, and that is for sure how I feel he captivated me throughout this record.
If you’re looking for something that will rekindle your love for modern music, and have given up on it entirely, I would really give Painting Over Mold a look out. Yes, it’s not something that is hailed as reinventing the wheel, but when you have the song crafting sensibilities that Graham Hunt has, you don’t have to reinvent the world. It is the type of record that you’d expect to have listened to a track or two on college radio back in the 90’s but didn’t because, well, it didn’t exist back then. It does now, and I am excited that it exists in this current day in age.
Rating 8.1/10
Favorite Tracks: Scraping the Road, Anything to Make It Better
Least Favorite Track: Dinerland
Listen to 'Scraping the Road', off of Graham Hunt's latest record, Painting Over Mold below: