Jack Grace Shares Cinematic Debut Album ‘Turn To Something You Know’
JACK GRACE SHARES DEBUT ALBUM
TURN TO SOMETHING YOU KNOW
OUT NOW VIA OF LEISURE
Today, Newcastle (NSW) born, Paris residing multi-talent Jack Grace shares his elliptical debut album Turn To Something You Know, out via Of Leisure. Featuring previous singles, ‘A Ribbon’, ‘Redemption’, ‘Daydreaming’ and ‘The Pavement’, the record ties the new sonic world created by Grace into a personal, 11 track vignette into his life.
Turn To Something You Know was created with deep rooted inspiration combining with a new and refreshed context. Classic songwriting is inspired by life experience through the lens of growing up in small towns and outer suburbs, and his own experience of moving from the vast rural landscapes of Australia to the cultural metropolis of Paris, losing and ultimately rediscovering a sense of self. ‘Around the end of my first year in France I had a moment where I realised I had inadvertently ripped the rug out from under my identity’, he recalls. ‘I went about trying to rebuild it and I made this record while I did that.’
LISTEN TO JACK GRACE TURN TO SOMETHING YOU KNOW
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The album’s front half features Jack Grace’s vocals at the forefront. Looped drum patterns, optimistic melodies and organic instrumentation sets the record’s sonic tone, one fuelled by melancholy and hope.
This sonic sentiment is evidenced most by the album’s opener, ‘It’s a Vision’. Moody acoustic guitar lines combine with Grace’s raspy vocal, painting a vivid self portrait of the forthcoming narratives explored on the record. Following the opener is the previously released ‘Redemption’. The track delves deep into a sonic sphere of sentimental musicianship, one that packages melancholy with hints of pop, soul and indie wrapped brilliantly with a nostalgic exterior.The record’s latter half kicks off with stark imagery via ‘Leaving’.
The ballad cut strips back the instrumentation of the preceding tracks, turning the nostalgia from ‘A Ribbon’ to a desolate yet beautiful intimate space. It’s from this point the tracklist turns, melancholy transitions to optimism and hope. From the strings in ‘In The Aisle’ the R&B feel in ‘Adds Up’ and the grandiose closer, ‘Happier’, Jack Grace flexes his songwriting and production abilities. In them, he takes control not only of his emotions but his artistic direction, solidifying his transition from producer to all encompassing artist and songwriter.
It’s on this album that Jack Grace manifests his experiences into a solely unique sound. The classically trained pianist cites a melting pot of influences, from American songwriting greats Dylan Springsteen and mavericks like David Byrne and Arthur Russell to early ‘00s post-rock and slow-core bands Low and The War on Drugs, via the electronic experimentalism of Massive Attack and Portishead and, more recently, Oneohtrix Point Never.
Turn To Something You Know Tracklist
1. It’s A Vision
2. Redemption
3. Daydreaming
4. Miles Away
5. The Pavement
6. A Ribbon
7. Leaving
8. Sailing 9. In The Aisle
10. Adds Up
11. Happier
Jack Grace, an inimitable artist. The journey for the singer-songwriter, musician and producer started in the suburbs of Newcastle (NSW) obsessing over piano, making demos and listening to mixes of Silver Chair, Dylan and Ray Charles. The result of which led him to the upper echelons of the Australian indie underground world before relocating to Paris in 2018.
At the core of Grace is a meticulous melodic focused, left of centre approach to song-writing, set to production punctuated with grand statements giving the perspective of small-town life funnelled through the internet. This finds him positioned uniquely somewhere between Sufjan Stevens and Beck with lyrical nods to Lana Del Rey and Bob Dylan. Filtered through a prism of forward-thinking artists as well as his own releases, Grace’s surreal blend of hazy VHS soul and footwork beats first attracted attention with his 2016 debut EP River, championed by peers and tastemakers Flume, Nick Murphy and Kllo.
It isn’t just through his own channels that we hear the brilliance of Jack Grace. As a producer, writer, arranger and collaborator he’s worked closely with Ngaiire, Armlock, Buoy, Eliott, Paul Mac, Japanese Wallpaper, Oscar Key Sung and a whole heap more assisting in building a catalogue of prolific Australian music.
JACK GRACE TURN TO SOMETHING YOU KNOW
OUT NOW VIA OF LEISURE
Praise for Jack Grace
‘Jack Grace is a talent in motion’
– Clash
‘[This] showcases Grace’s ability to create forward-thinking, multi-layered music with a chilling emotional touch.’
– COLORS
‘Ultimately, he draws you in to the inward tension he’s coming to terms with beautifully. Listen’
– Stereogum
‘manages to balance sadness with touches of beauty and hope’
– Pigeons & Planes