In Conversation With #282 - GRAACE
Sydney’s alt-pop star GRAACE has just released her brand new EP ‘Afterimage’. Her first project in two years, this EP captures it all: heartbreak, love, and all these encounters that linger, ever-present, in the back of your brain.
Invoking late nights and long chats with your closest girlfriends, a glass of wine in hand, 'afterimage' is a true letting out of everything inside. It's crying on the dancefloor, it's letting it all go, and it's saying "fuck that shit" and moving on. The rollercoaster ride of feelings is a therapeutic experience, with listeners able to find at least one track that provides a relatability that feels like GRAACE has taken your own experiences and turned them into a song just for you.
She took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.
Hey there GRAACE, how are you? So your EP is out now – how does it feel to have it out there?.
I’m great! Feeling so excited about playing the new music live and bringing everyone into the world of ‘afterimage’ in its entirety. ‘Downgraded’ being the main single has been such a big accomplishment for me to finally release after sitting on it for years! It’s also been so fun to explore such a "sassy” EP, and I feel like I got to give each song its moment to shine by really getting to dive into each character. I feel like I’ve got to create a world around this EP, both sonic and visual, which I’ve never been able to do before.
It is called ‘Afterimage’ – what is the meaning behind that?
I was sitting on many different names for months and loved the sentiment of ‘when I close my eyes I see you on the back of my eye lids’ - but obviously that's WAY too long haha. I love the idea of a short word carrying a huge weight behind it, so when I came across the meaning of ‘afterimage’ it was meant to be. The concept of a vivid image being retained by your eyes, even when it’s gone, means so much to the EP and really means different things for every song.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us?
This EP has been in the making for years. It’s been recorded and written not just in Australia but around the world. I got to work with so many amazing people on these songs, from one of my best friends, to people based in Nashville, LA, and the idyllic Byron Bay. Every song holds amazing memories having been able to collaborate with such talented writers and producers.
What are the key influences behind the EP?
I think this EP holds its own. I wanted to build the ‘afterimage’ world for itself, and each song barely had any references. It feels different from things that I have made in the past, and instead of focusing on lead singles, I wanted each of them to have its own “single” moment and personification. I just loved leaning into different sides of myself as a woman, and exploring the diversity and duality of being in my 20s without trying to fit into a box.
If the EP could be a soundtrack to any film – which one and why?
OH, I love this! Honestly my favourite movie of all time is ‘She’s The Man’. Weirdly enough I think it would fit SO well in this soundtrack and storyline!? I’ve been talking about wanting to score a movie for a lifetime and that would be a dream of mine actually.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
In my song ‘Honey’ I sing “your lies taste so sweet, you’re like honey dripping on my teeth” and for me that is such a sexy lyric. The imagery behind it speaks for itself, and for this song in particular it was so fun to lean in without feeling ashamed or that I need to make myself feel small. As an incredibly uncoordinated human, it was fun to pretend I was a sexy minx for a few minutes.
Now the EP is out there – what next for you?
I’ve already been working on the next project! No way there will ever be a 2 year gap in-between releasing music again. I’ve been working on collecting older demos that I love, but also writing a tonne of new ones. I was just in the studio with a full live band for 6 hours recording everything improv, and it was such a beautiful and raw writing experience. I can’t wait for the next project to feel like you’re in the studio with me, and I’m ready to strip things back on the next one and embrace less production and more live instrumentation.
