Gracie Jean - Romance Is Bad (2022)

Australian singer-songwriter Gracie Jean has just dropped her alt-country folk debut album, Romance Is Bad. Inspired by her life and love in Port-Stephens, the artist crafts elaborate stories and musically manifests them in her songs. Jean enlists the soul of country music to produce paragons of melancholia.

I Don’t Want to Sing the Blues Anymore eases us into the album with cascading feelings. The melodies float through the song with an unmoving omnipresence. With vocal rises reminiscent of calm ocean waves and reflecting the haloing melodies, the song is a well of glistening melancholy.

Little Mountain Home is a slow-paced, musical autobiography dripping with quiet sadness and colored with simple dreams. The acoustic guitar melody consoles and weeps with the artist as she sings of loss and heart-break. Wishing for a happily after in a mountain home where nothing bad ever happens, the artist holds out hope of finding that which she lost.

Weight Of The World has veins of blues coursing through it. Echoing harmonies and soft melodies accentuate the acute loneliness in the vocals. Drenched in histrionic tragedy, the song blooms with spirited gloom. My First Love tells the story of a cherished love through the purple lens of retrospectivity. Sweet memories sprout like cobalt blue jellyfish from the lyrics and light up dopamine circuits in the brain.

Whatever Goes is a song to adore your lover to. Glowing with soft glee and contentment, the sweeping neo-country melodies convey a gratitude for life and love. You will find yourself melting into the beloved lyrics and honey vocals. Overcome sets the mood for introspection and soul thinking. With folk string melodies and woeful piano keys, the song carves out a safe space to feel all your feelings and indulge your sorrows.

Forgettable is loaded with the melodrama we all need when we feel our lowest and most lonely. The soothing vocals of the artist articulates your insecurities and validates them. The ethereal synth melodies throw lavish pity parties for your benefit and shares in your grief and sadness.

Romance Is Bad has a way of isolating the pain of heartbreak and overwhelming with the clarity of your values and yourself. The calming vocals of the artist envelope and pacify your struggle and sadness. Molten guitar melody arcs comfort you with empathy and warmth. Endings concludes the album with a classic country track. With acoustic guitar and melancholic violins, the song magnifies the tragedy of finales, dusk, change, and goodbyes.