Let’s hear it for the lesser-spotted nepo daddy

Rob Grant releases his debut album, Lost at Sea, this week. A 69-year-old millionaire and former ad man, furniture exec and domain developer, Grant has made a record of ambient, ocean-themed piano doodles glorying in titles such as ‘In the Dying Light of Day: Requiem for Mother Earth’, ‘A Delicate Mist Surrounds Me’ and ‘The Mermaids’ Lullaby’.

Not incidentally, he is also the father of one of the world’s biggest (and best) alt-pop stars, Lana Del Rey. The title track features his daughter’s unmistakeable contralto, while her name is emblazoned on the front cover. Father’s Day is just around the corner, and Ms Del Rey has delivered a pearl of a present for Pappy: his very own album.

We hear plenty these days about ‘nepo babies’ – those privileged spawn for whom the gateway to stardom is always unlocked – but let’s not forget the lesser-spotted nepo daddy. Grizzled grey-beards who have harboured delusional musical ambitions since their teens, they’re as hungry as any X Factor wannabe when a later-life, fame-adjacent break arises.

Grant has been hustling for decades. With a fancy to become a country-music star, when Del Rey was still a tot he sauntered to Nashville hawking a song called ‘Big Bubba’, which failed to cut the mustard. Now that his daughter has prised open the window of opportunity, he has reinvented himself as a free-flowing auteur. The music on Lost at Sea is pleasant enough – the title track is lovely – but it’s unlikely that Decca, which also releases music by Jeff Goldblum, would have taken a punt on a sixtysomething’s drifting soundscapes were he not Il Papa Del Rey; or that producer to the Gods (and Goddesses), Jack Antonoff, would also have clambered on board.