Sydney's phenomenal pop singer and songwriter GRAACE shares her new EP Self Preservation. A collection of five tracks that capture the brilliance of her songwriting skills, we finally see a polished artist ready to take on the world.
Opening with the latest single "Selfish" – a track released alongside the video featuring her all-female live band – the single introduces us to the new refined sound from GRAACE. It's a cushioned introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the EP: this isn't a catalogue of pop bangers, we're delving deep into the mind of a complicated artist.
While the delicate "Sentimental" is a raw, guitar-led number laced with reflection, the slow-burning pop ballad "American Pie Reruns" is a personal outcry of numbness. "It's like going on vacation, 'cause I haven't found my place yet", she sings above the flowing melodies structured almost like an overspill of the subconscious. It's an upfront, honest talk with herself about the directions she needs to take to overcome her struggles if only see can see a way out.
On "Half Awake", GRAACE lays out the struggles of losing her father at a young age. With its expansive bass tones and blend of piano notes, the single's a tender ode to missing someone who you once idolized. Closing the EP with "Unhappy", Self Preservation captures an abundance of changing emotions. "Unhappy" reflects on a past relationship that still impacts her thoughts to this day, a reminiscence of rosier times before the end. It's a melancholic number that leaves you in your own cathartic reflection.
"My first EP, 'Self Sabotage', was born through a chain of events; after torturing myself and putting incredible pressure on my relationships and friendships, I turned to art to ease the pain," explains GRAACE. “I lived a fast-paced life during the period, being told where to go and what to do, that I lost sight of who I was and why I loved music. I forgot why I was doing what I was doing. So, after a year of feeling lost, I sat down in the mirror, wrote down the reasons why I started writing music when I was 12 and thought to myself, let's rewrite your story. This is my story of Self Preservation."
GRAACE's previous releases have seen her slowly becoming the face of radio-ready pop anthems. But with Self Preservation, we get to see a new-found maturity to GRAACE's writing and storytelling. Her words have become even more personal and so much more raw, a notion that sees her tapping into relatability and the emotions of her fans. As we often get caught up in listening to a body of work for a few weeks before moving on to the next best thing, Self Preservation completely destroys that new way of consuming music. It's a beautiful collection of tracks that leave a mark on you whether you've listened to them over and over again or just once. GRAACE has crafted something so stunning, we're left wondering if this is heaven-sent.
Self Preservation is out now via Sony Music / The Orchard.
