Aside from being one half of the electro-pop duo Annaland, and playing in the now defunct folk band Leather Tramp, Los Angeles’ Gracie Gray has developed her own solo brand of dreamy folk. Combining the languorous textures of Mazzy Star with the crooned vocals and strikingly cryptic lyrics of Adrianne Lenker, Gray’s sound is enveloping and moving, its gentleness shot through with a myriad of conflicting emotions—from nostalgia and longing to flat, hard melancholy, as well as a grace found in the textures of experience.
Taken from her debut full-length album, Oregon in a Day, single ‘Morphine’ encapsulates the ethereal beauty of the Gracie Gray style. The delicate nature of the sound belies its darker themes, and the song grows to posses a haunting quality that seeps in the cracks. The result is a track that breathes great life into stillness, giving full body to the introspective and intimate, and addressing the balanced between pain and numbness alluded to in the title.
morphine,
cigarjealous, i know what you mean
kevin,
black star
you listed all of your things
and you take it way too far
so no one’s love will ever reach you
yeah you take it way too far
so no one’s love
will ever reach you
will ever reach you
The song comes complete with a fittingly evocative video directed by Michael Priestley and Christian O’Keefe of Overlay Films. From the opening shot of spring trees set against a grand sky, the film foregrounds Gracie Gray’s uncanny ability to combine fine details with larger forces, and plays with a muted palette so as to fully highlight the moments of light.
Oregon in a Day is out now and you can get it from the Gracie Gray Bandcamp page. If you are in the area, there’s an album release show at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles, and you can find full details here.
