Grace - FMA (2016)

A rising soul star swings for the fences. The debut album from Australian powerhouse Grace Sewell is a confident package of ballads that toggle between pleading love songs (“Coffee,” “Feel Your Love”) and reckonings of independence ("Hell of a Girl,” “You Don’t Own Me,”). The latter is a cover of Lesley Gore’s 1963 feminist anthem, and, like the original, was produced by the legendary Quincy Jones. It's a challenge that would intimidate most young artists, but Sewell, who has the swagger of Amy Winehouse and the muscle of Etta James, rises to the task.

A limber- and soulful-voiced singer from Australia, Grace Sewell, who records as simply Grace, exhibits a strong Amy Winehouse influence in her commanding retro-contemporary R&B style. She was born into a family with professional musician grandparents, and her older brother Conrad Sewell is also a successful songwriter and recording artist. In 2015, at the age of 18, Grace signed with RCA Records and released her debut EP, Memo, which included the single "You Don't Own Me." A liberally updated cover of the 1963 Lesley Gore hit with additional lyrics by rapper G-Eazy, it was co-produced by Quincy Jones and Parker Ighile (Rihanna), and garnered millions of digital streams while hitting the top of the charts in Australia. Also a songwriter, she co-wrote the remaining four tracks on the EP. Her debut full-length was expected later in 2015.

Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian said "While not yet a household name, the voice of 19-year-old Grace Sewell rang out through millions of living rooms last Christmas. Covering Lesley Gore's 1963 anthem 'You Don't Own Me' for House of Fraser's festive ad campaign, her lofty, billowing rendition climbed the charts through sheer omnipresence. Instead of relying on the song's success and rushing out an album, however, the Australian singer's debut arrives six months later, powered by her full-throttle voice and sultry, coffee-table soul. Although there are elements of the calculated vintage balladry of Meghan Trainor, Sewell's lyrics borrow more from Amy Winehouse's broken-hearted woes ('I drink so much / I guess it’s called love'). In spite of its title, which stands for Forgive My Attitude, there's a subtlety to her songs – which range across languid bossa nova, jazz and neo-soul – that suggests she is better suited to sophisticated songwriting than shifting scarves." Rolling Stone Australia's Jules Lefevre claimed "At the highest points of FMA – which are also the most subdued – Grace Sewell touches a maturity that should belong to a 49-year-old, not someone of 19. Her vocals, a bright mix of husk and honey, drift inexorably close to the untouchable Amy Winehouse on tracks that at times eerily resemble the late singer's debut, Frank. Grace has been quietly assembling FMA for the better part of two years, with help from a glittering cast of producers, including legendary Quincy Jones. The first half is a little rocky: big and brassy soul rubs against dark and demure jazz lines with varying results. But when it's good, it's really good: 'From You' is a devastating love song, and 'New Orleans' is neo jazz for the dead of night."


Track List:
01. Church on Sunday
02. Hell of a Girl
03. Hope You Understand
04. Crazy over Here (feat. Parker)
05. You Don't Own Me (feat. G-Eazy)
06. How to Love Me
07. Coffee
08. From You
09. Feel Your Love
10. New Orleans
11. Boys Boys Boys
12. Say
13. Boyfriend Jeans (Remix)
14. Song Cries and Amens

More Music in My Blog
Follow My RSS Channel