EP Name: my life and its disasters
Artist: Grace Calver
Released: April 2023
Rating: 7/10
Tracklist
Zombie Conversations
Bored Of U
Read Your Mind
Addicted
For Dead
19 year old pop indie artist Grace Calver is releasing her debut EP 'my life and its disasters' on the 14th of April. The EP includes three previously heard singles and two brand new tracks! From East Anglia the singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been playing original songs in live settings for a little over two years. Her relatable tongue-in-cheek style indie pop has seen her play support to artists such as Plastic Mermaids, Gemma Rogers, Freya Beer and Thomas Nicholas (from the American Pie movies). For a relatively new artist Grace Calver has already achieved some pretty impressive things including winning the Female Solo Category at the NMG Awards covering Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire in 2022. She was also included in the East Anglian Daily Times list of inspiring people under 30 for 2022 and was named as one of their five artists to watch in 2023. The debut EP 'my life and its disasters' has this sort of fairytale like sound to it. The five tracks seem to combine a popular modern indie sound with a 70's soft rock/folk rock tone. I found I could especially hear this splice of genres within third track 'Read Your Mind'. I think this one was very easy to listen to and you could picture just lying in the grass in the middle of nowhere with your headphones in while listening. 'Read Your Mind' much like other songs on the EP is about dating, and this one specifically talks about not knowing what the other person is thinking.
"Is about getting mixed signals from the person you're dating and how it would be good to know what they're thinking. Or would it?" - (Grace Calver)
'Bored Of U' I found to be more of an upbeat, summery feeling track that shows off the lively and sort of cheeky writing style that Grace Calver has. 'Addicted' which is the most recent single to come from the EP begins with this gloomy sounding guitar and in this one I could definitely hear more of the rock influences that Grace Calver has. 'Addicted' to me felt like a young girl writing in her diary and telling her secrets. The song is about having an obsessive crush on someone, which is something we all do even though you wont necessarily admit it. My personal two favourites on the EP are 'Zombie Conversations' which was the first single that Grace Calver released. The track talks about the downsides of modern dating and has a sort of light energy to it that makes it really easy to enjoy.
"was written during lockdown about those dead "zombie" conversations I was having on social media." - (Grace Calver)
My other favourite on 'my life and its disasters' is closing track 'For Dead'. This one is the rockiest and is not surprisingly my favourite. I sort of got the vibe of when Disney used to do pop rock songs and I really liked how bass driven it feels. For me this is one of the stronger songs on the EP and its darker tone with the light vocals give it this sort of haunting sound that makes for a very powerful EP closer.
"it details those missed opportunities we've all had. We've not followed up the slightly flirty conversation we've had in the queue for a coffee or asked the person we're talking to online out on a date! We let them get away and should we chase them or leave it? What could have been if I was a bit braver and a bit better at flirting?" - (Grace Calver)
Overall, 'my life and its disasters' is an EP that is easy and enjoyable to listen to. There are definitely times that the clever lyricism made me smile and I think this is one worth checking out. On 'my life and its disasters' guitar, bass and piano/keys are played by Grace Calver as well as vocals. Oscar Liddiard delivers the drums.
'Zombie Conversations', 'Bored Of U', and 'Addicted' were recorded and produced by Jake Day while 'Read Your Mind' and 'For Dead' were done by Karl Younger. All mixing and mastering for the EP was completed by Jake Day at Northacre Studio. If you want to catch Grace Calver live, she already has some exciting things announced for this year including a support slot for Leah Wellers UK tour in Brighton and Birmingham for September.
Pre Save 'my life and its disasters' HERE
Grace Calver online