Melbourne-based singer, songwriter, producer and accomplished stage actor Grace Cummings will release her self-produced, sophomore album Storm Queen next month via Sugar Mountain Records/Virgin Music Australia.
True to its title, Storm Queen is a body of work with its own unruly climate, governed only by the visceral quality of Cummings’ spellbinding and devastating vocal presence, as heard on stage opening for the likes of Weyes Blood, Evan Dando, J Mascis and more.
With most songs captured within the first few takes and featuring unexpected flourishes by Cummings’ peers in Melbourne, the album showcases a vast and volatile emotional landscape from one of the most captivating folk artists to enter the scene in years.
Over the years, Cummings has matched her idiosyncratic musicality with a deliberately spontaneous approach to songwriting.
“I don’t really do that thing where I lock myself away and sit down at a table like, ‘Right, let’s write a song now,’” Cummings says.
“If I feel like I have something I want to write, I just get it all out in the moment.”
And in the studio, Cummings remained wholly committed to following her deepest and most immediate instinct.
“I’m not precious at all about recording; it just doesn’t make sense to me,” she says.
“I am who I am and I sound how I sound, and I’m not really interested in going in like some kind of magician to try to make it sound any different.”
In the making of Storm Queen, Cummings reinforced the self-possessed naturalism at the heart of her artistry, ultimately distilling her vision down to its most elemental essence.
“In the past there were times when I’ve let other people’s opinions affect me too much,” she says.
“But with this record I learned that I’m allowed to influence myself instead of taking in anyone else’s ideas. I learned to completely trust what I see and hear in my head, and I stuck with that and just focused on creating what I love the most: something real and raw and ugly and beautiful.”
Grace Cummings will be performing at Fremantle Arts Centre on Fri 18 & Sat 19 February. For tickets and more info head to Oztix.
Source: Media release
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