Stream Gretta Ray's new EP with some insight from the star herself

Header photo by Michelle Grace Hunder.

In the midst of what was already a reasonably big year for Australian music, 2016 saw the arrival of the since-unstoppable Melbourne musician Gretta Ray, who ever since taking out triple j Unearthed High with her break-out single Drive, has been nothing but brilliant. Here And Now, her just-released sophomore EP, acts a re-cap of kinds for the last two years, covering her growth as a person and a musician since Drive - which features on the EP - all the way through to the chart-storming heavyweight she is today. From 2017's Towers and this year's highlight Time right through to her latest single, the emotion-driven Radio Silence, Here And Now showcases this evolution and adventure through washed-out guitar melodies and Ray's notorious aching vocals, which instantly captivate you the second they float in.

With slots at Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival done and dusted and a full headline tour quickly selling, there's no better time than now to jump on the Gretta Ray train if you haven't already done it - and what better way to do it than her new EP, broken down with insight into its theme and creation by Gretta Ray itself. Grab the EP HERE, soak up that glorious insight below, and make sure you grab tickets to her upcoming headline tour, which kicks off next week in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth - tickets and more information HERE.

Gretta Ray - Here And Now Insight:

In a time of extreme excitement, a moment of sudden success and celebration; in the midst of such hype, it is only natural that the joy brought by all this may also evoke an opposing sense of panic, a fear surrounding the fact that this is it. While the world around us is conditioned to encourage us to ride this wave without question, at times, it may be more beneficial for your self-growth to take a break, to step back a pace, to slow down and take a moment to centre, and indulge.

I knew instantly that this body of work would be an exploration of this concept from the moment I began writing. More specifically, I knew that I needed to live, see the world, follow my heart and simply catch my breath following on from a tremendously exciting and busy year. Over the past two years spent creating Here And Now, I have made it my mission to soak up my last moments as a teenager, to be entirely present wherever I am, with whoever I’m with. As a result of being hyperaware of ‘living in the moment’, each of the seven tracks on the EP were written when I was completely consumed by my perception of a particular place, person, or experience at that time.

While this theme does serve to tie all of the songs together in this way, there are definitely a range of different emotions expressed over the duration of this record. To me, When We’re In Fitzroy exemplifies this sense of solidity, certainty and safeness. Whereas the following track A View Like This is more playful and flirtatious in its manner, confessional yet a little secretive and shy, two traits that are then completely abandoned in Drive, wherein this insane confidence and joy breaks through yet is brought about by a totally imaginary, fictional scenario. Radio Silence is pure heartbreak and a heavy sense of guilt, Time is melancholy and hope, Towers is even suggestive of anger through a sense of loss... I wanted to bookend the EP with Blue Minded, a song that sings of new love, born in and nurtured by a place of nostalgia and memory.

Tour Dates:

Thursday 16 August - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne (with Al Parkinson and Nancie Schipper)
Friday 17 August - Jive Bar, Adelaide (with Ollie English and Connor Black-Harry)
Saturday 18 August - Jack Rabbit Slims, Perth (with Jacob Diamond and Al Parkinson)
Thursday 23 August - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (with FEELDS and Connor Black-Harry)
Friday 24 August - Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane (with Al Parkinson and Asha Jefferies)

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