Indie Obsessive: “Sentimental” by GRAACE

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

“Sentimental” by GRAACE – A Song Feature

GRAACE reveals honesty and courage by exposing her vulnerabilities within her songs. That is particularly true for “Sentimental,” a song she describes as a letter to her past self. The lyrics are included at the bottom of this post.

      The intro to “Sentimental” is an electric guitar on an atmospheric foundation. The choice of an electric guitar is interesting, since most “confessional” singles opt for an acoustic guitar. Soon, the instruments are joined by the voice of GRAACE, which is the performance name of Sydney-based vocalist/songwriter Grace Pitts. Her vocal approach is well tailored for the vulnerability of the song, then becomes spectacular during times of harmonic layering (first heard at 0:49).

     While explaining her single, GRAACE said:
   “I wrote 'Sentimental' as a letter to my past self. I've spent the past two years hibernating from most people, moving on from my old life and growing up. I needed to break out of the mental jail that I put myself in: accept my flaws, not give up on myself, and permit myself to grow. For years I felt so lost in old memories, wishing I could go back to how things were, who I used to be and change the narratives. It detached me from reality. I had turned into a disassociating zombie. I had to fall apart into a crippling depression to feel my past, learn from the mistakes and allow myself to grow into a new person with no opinions of what I should be beside the mirror. Once I forgave myself and others for mistakes and our pasts, I grew closer with people and suddenly felt freedom for the first time in years. I'm always going to be a sentimental person, but the biggest thing I've learnt from my early 20's is that memories are just lessons for the future.”

     GRAACE was introduced to the Indie universe in 2017, when she co-wrote and was featured in Hayden James' "Numb.” Riding high from the success of “Numb,” in 2018 GRAACE released her "Self-Sabotage" EP, which has amassed 40 million streams to date. But her inspiration occurred earlier in her life. She lost her father when she was only 14. She turned to music as a form of therapy. “It was the one thing that gave me purpose,” she recalls. "I think it’s kind of beautiful to finally be able to write about it; to move on and grow.”

     “Sentimental” by GRAACE