My life got a little sweeter when I was introduced to Gallant’s music. I first heard his song “Weight in Gold” about nine months ago taking a long car ride with my best friend. It’s something we both like to do when we want to listen to great music without any chance of being interrupted. “Weight in Gold” is just one of the sixteen tracks on Gallant’s debut album, Ology. 

Gallant and Seal, yes, the Seal you’re thinking of, did an amazing version of “Weight in Gold” that will probably bring tears to your eyes. If you stop reading this article here, at least do yourself a favor and watch this video before leaving: (but you should still hang around, just saying).

NPR did a fantastic job of describing the album in their “First Listen” that went live at 7:00 a.m. today.

http://www.npr.org/player/embed/472145212/472422348

Another much talked about track is “Skipping Stones” featuring Jhene Aiko. Gallant’s falsetto that introduces this track will bring you to your knees and Jhene has the perfect female vocal to bring a “deep breathe” in the midst of such a simplistically complex song.

Find me skipping stones, and washed up rocks
Holding out for something I can’t force
What am I missing?
Oh, baby, what am I missing?

Sometimes you feel like you’re walking in circles. Doing the same things that feel normal to you over and over again to avoid accepting a change. You may be waiting to hear about or do something, that’s out of your control. This song details, in a minimalistic way, those moments where you’re doing the mundane to calm you down in a period of waiting.

I personally really love the track following “Skipping Stones” entitled, “Chandra.” It starts out intimately and builds to a full blown orchestra backing Gallants soulful vocals. There are breakdowns and rebuilds, reflective of any long relationship. You hear uncertainty in the lyrics, underlined by a silver lining of piano melodies and orchestrated strings.

The opening and closing tracks are entitled “First” and “Last,” truly serving as the covers on either end of the Ology book Galant has released. The album’s true release will be on April 9th, but until then you can help me make the NPR site crash but the amount of times we all keep replaying it.