by Ryan Meyer (@meyer_ryan_twt)
Grist for the Mill is the first EP by the L.A.-based La Bonte, fronted by Garrett La Bonte, who handles most of the instrumentation throughout the five songs (including two covers). A quick Google of the definition of grist offers a technical explanation involving grains and flour, and it’s safe to assume that this emotional collection of sparse, slowcore-adjacent songs doesn’t borrow its name from such a term. Instead, it’s likely the release takes its title from the second definition of grist, which is “useful material, especially to back up an argument.”
Rather than stand out on the strengths of riffs or solos, the music acts as a template for La Bonte’s lyrics. While it’s still a guitar-based record, Grist for the Mill’s instrumentation functions in the same way as the genres that La Bonte takes inspiration from, as evident in his selection of the two covers on the EP, Gracie Gray’s folky “Oregon in a Day” and country legend Townes Van Zandt’s “Colorado Girl.”
Lyrically, the cover selections match the record’s themes of the desire to escape and the fear of failure that accompanies such dreams, as embodied in “A Song About Loneliness” when La Bonte sings, “It’s a life I’ve often feared: to want to fly/ But be tethered to the ground.” The EP ends with “Colorado Girl,” where the narrator assures the girl in question that he’ll “be there tomorrow,” and begs his mama not to cry. Perhaps she’s crying because the narrator has promised his arrival countless times but couldn’t carry it out because of his aforementioned self-inflicted tether to the ground.
The only arguing taking place on Grist for the Mill is internal, and it’s a stretch to call it arguing at that. Rather, La Bonte looks inward to seek answers to questions about sources of loneliness or a longing for what once was.