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Reviews

The Grand Undoing — Songs for the Sleeping
(Bandcamp Secret Candy Rock Records 006, 2026, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-04-10

Songs for the Sleeping Cover art

They say if you can get past the singer, that’s half the battle. The Grand Undoing is the project of singer, songwriter, bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist Seth Goodman from Boston. Working with Goodman is co-producer, keyboardist, guitarist, and vocalist Ted Powers, who was also there on the previous album from 2020 In a Vigil State, which we reviewed in these pages. In addition, there are numerous guests playing additional guitars, pedal steel, lap steel, piano, keyboards, sitar, flute, drums, and percussion, including none other than Dave Mattacks on several tracks. With the exception of a couple tracks written with Powers, all of the album’s nine songs are written by Goodman, who is an excellent songwriter and seems to propose some interesting lyrics, with a good handle on arrangements as well. The information sheet that came with the release cites psychedelic, punk, prog, and power pop as the Grand Undoing’s sonic signature, although I don’t really hear much of any of that; instead the strongest energies seem to come from early-70s glam rock not unlike post-Ziggy David Bowie, Roxy Music, or the more pop side of Mott the Hoople. Put all of that together in a blender and you’re bound to come up with something pretty close to these nine songs. Goodman has a fine voice, at least when he can manage to stay in key, the opener “Sing a New Morning” being a fine example, though on some of the cuts, most notably on the closer “Now I’m Going Home” he’s all over the place, sometimes a little sharp, sometimes flat, or just plain off. Michael McDonald had the same problem when he sang with The Doobie Brothers, though he was always a little flat. The spoken lyrics on “Creature” are good, and the sung parts are excellent here also. Since the credits don’t actually say who played what on which track (with the exception of Mattacks’ contributions), and four guitarists credited, it’s hard to know who’s handling some of the excellent solos that can be found throughout the album. All taken, this is a mixed bag, I really want to like it enthusiastically, but after half a dozen or more listens I just can’t seem to get there.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): The Grand Undoing

More info
http://thegrandundoing.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-the-sleeping

 

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