Back in 2017 we had the pleasure of sharing Gruñona, the debut album from Half Gringa. The recording project of Chicago‘s Isabel Olive, Half Gringa is what we described back then as “less a band and more a vessel for personal introspection,” the record delving into the conflict at the heart of Olive’s identity; a conflict between the expectations of Americans raised in small-town Illinois and those of Latinx heritage. But rather than emerge with certainty, the record instead challenged the very notions of discrete categories, and found value in ambiguity. As we concluded:
Gruñona is a journey without a clear destination, a question without an answer. An attempt to map identity not to achieve some clear-cut conclusion but rather in the hope of better understanding how history and culture and personal beliefs shape the people we are and were, the people we will be.
This August sees Half Gringa return with a brand new album, Force to Reckon, and though the focus of the songs might be different, the same powers are at work. Blending pop, indie rock and folk, with harmonies and piano from fellow Chicagoan Gia Margaret, the record is one of reflection, written following a personal loss and amid all the strangeness that follows. “None of the songs on this record resolve, really,” Olive explains. “Many end in the middle of a thought, because this record is about how much I’m still in the middle of my grieving process.”
For mourning is not finite, not some penance to served and finished. Rather it is open-ended and strangely familiar, as though it has always been present at some level, waiting for death to reveal how deep it goes back. “Lines like ‘Time will tell if nothing else’ and ‘I will mourn you in advance, but I never really get the chance’ sound like hindsight, but they were more like predictions when I wrote them,” Olive continues. “I spend a lot of time looking away from things I don’t want to deal with, but I know they’re still there. And my eyes are getting tired, I guess.”
With this in mind, lead single ‘1990’ might prove surprisingly upbeat and playful. But within its wry humour and uplifting motion lies a keen sense of pain. A kind of joined up hurt where the past will always govern the present, and the future will never be free of either.
Force to Reckon is out on the 28th August and you can pre-order it now from the Half Gringa Bandcamp page.
Photo by Rachel Winslow