Grant-Lee Phillips

What to know

This year, Grant-Lee Phillips releases his 12th solo album, the self-produced In the Hour of Dust. It is a work that does not shy away from the big themes of the present. "The mood of this album is contemplative," says Phillips, "an attempt to find meaning in an age of confusion, to feel one's way through the blinding dust of unreality." In the Hour of Dust is also a very intimate affair; both in its musicalpresentation and the highly personal - often autobiographical - lyrics in the songs, all of which are set, the songwriter admits, "against this larger, disharmonious backdrop."Audiences first discovered Phillips' thoughtful songwriting in the context of the rock band Grant Lee Buffalo, a trio that found success with their 1993 debut album Fuzzy.