FEATURE:
Spotlight
JGrrey
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WHEN looking around for artists…
who can provide something new and exciting in 2020, I take into consideration a variety of things: the originality of the music, the nuances on offer, and whether the artist has longevity and appeal. I think JGrrey is an artist providing something stunning and new. It is hard to categorise her music, but the Neo-Soul flavours are hard to ignore. It is sort of a mix of artists like Erykah Badu and India Arie combined with modern-day production values; a sense of dreaminess envelops the tracks, but there is something quite personal and serious in the lyrics. Like many artists, JGrrey investigates love, mental-health and other subjects that, at times, can make the heart skip and force one to stop. Around these incredible songs is a voice that is both steeped in embers of icons and known artists, with a sense of the individual that is hard to ignore. I love tracks such as Half Full, and Ain’t So, and JGrrey is an artist whose music could easily slot on any radio station – as it is not limited in terms of tastes and demographics like so many artists of today. The new iPhone visualiser video for Ain’t So is amazing, and I wonder what plans JGrrey has for the rest of 2020. Like her peers, this is not how she expected the year to go and, as such, touring and bigger plans have been curtailed. Before I look at the here and now, I want to pick from a few interviews that introduce us to this amazing artist.
Last year, The Line of Best Fit selected JGrrey as an artist to watch – and they talked about her start and early life:
“The story of Jennifer Clarke - better known as - JGrrey has fast become something of urban legend. From gaining her moniker because the Instagram handle for Grey was already taken to the phenomenal success of her now COLORS session, her whole journey to date has been a fortunate series of what she calls happy accidents. The 25-year-old - who great up in South London before moving to Edgware aged six her with her adoptive parents - didn’t even know she could sing for most of her young life. It was only when she started jamming with friends that her talent started to become clear: “I’d never wanted to be a singer, but I always wrote songs," she tells me, "but never listened to them. But now I’m happy that I wrote songs, it’s like second nature to me. But it was never planned.”
It was around that time when JGrrey realised that if she wanted to do anything with her music, then she was going to have to work it out on her own terms and give herself the space to grow. Recalling her first experience of actively going into the studio with a friend, she tells me, “I heard my voice on a track and started cringing because I didn’t like the sound of it and that was the point of me deciding that I needed to get my own studio; I needed to set it up myself and I need to be able to grow so when people hear it, I could be happy with what I made. I had to be happy with that experience and then I just started to fucking love it. I could say anything that I wanted to say and you know and tell any story that wanted to tell and people would listen to it”.
The melting of R&B and Neo-Soul is an amazing brew that is parts slinky and soft, but there is that energy and fire that raises the heat. The Grrey Daze E.P. was released last year and, whilst it did not get the sort of attention and widespread focus it deserved, it is a brilliant release. I would urge people to go to JGrrey’s official website and Spotify and listen to the E.P. When she spoke with CLASH last year, she broke down the tracks on the E.P. It was clear that CLASH were impressed by what they heard:
“Each new release from the vocalist has that relaxed feel, a laid back approach that turns her gilded slow jams into heavenly R&B.
New EP 'Grrey Daze' is her boldest statement yet, full of gorgeous production, nuanced songwriting, and those stellar vocals.
Out now, it opens with 'Feelings', a song JGrrey tells Clash she finds "comfort in, I remember writing to it and thinking that I didn’t feel rushed, it could just take its own time, it’s laid back an honest, two traits I pride myself in also."
Those are traits that keep on occurring on the EP. Take her recent single 'Pretty Insane', which was "a free-style, just an instrumental I liked and myself singing obscure truths about how I felt... I do it all the time, this one just worked out well".
When considering an artist, I sort of think it is great having appealing music at your fingertips, but one craves something more. Maybe it is a personality that speaks to you or a spark that you do not get from other artists. Having read up about JGrrey, I connected with her instantly. Maybe it is the fact that we share a love of similar artists – like Amy Winehouse and Nelly Furtado -, but it is the experience of discovering music and how she approaches songwriting that connected with me. When she was interviewed by Stylist last year, JGrrey discussed her early exposure to music:
“The first record I ever bought…
Wasn’t technically bought, I never really bought records for myself. My dad was and still is a DJ so I wouldn’t need to buy any records because he had them all. I would just steal whatever he was listening to or whatever I liked that I knew he had because he would always be the first person to have it.
I think the first record I got from my Dad was a Nelly Furtado song, but I couldn’t tell you what single it was. I remember falling in love with her, she was one of those artists that really resonated with me.
My first source of inspiration…
I remember listening to Nelly Furtado’s music and her lyricism and thinking I totally get it. Even though everything she writes about is so obscure, I definitely think that it subconsciously inspired me.
Alongside Nelly Furtado, there are all the obvious names as well like Lauren Hill, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and Amy Winehouse.
To be honest music is a new thing for me. I’ve only really been an artist properly for three years and even now I’m still working that out - to me it’s still kind of crazy that this is something I am genuinely doing. So, when I was younger and watching all of these people, I was just watching these people and thinking they were amazing. I wasn’t necessarily taking note of them, at the time, as sources of inspiration.
Despite that though Amy Winehouse has always stuck out in my mind as a person who I think is beautiful. Her music, her style and what she created was obviously amazing but as a person, she was just so cool”.
I am going to conclude things soon enough, but I have seen JGrrey’s name shared by various sources as one to watch this year. I am definitely going to keep my eyes and ears open to see where she goes next, as I really love her music and attitude. I will bring in a couple more interview snippets, as I think it gives more colour and shows different side to the songwriter. In terms of influences, this interview from Fred Perry highlights a few sounds and sonic directions that have resonated with JGrrey:
“A song that defines the teenage you?
'I Luv U' by Dizzee Rascal.
One record you would keep forever?
Amy Winehouse's.
“A song lyric that has inspired you?
“I don’t need nobody telling me the time”
From 'Certainly' by Erykah Badu.
The song that would get you straight on the dance floor?
'Beige 70' by Cola Boyy.
A song you wished you had written?
'Thinkin Bout You' by Frank Ocean”.
Things have been pretty busy for JGrrey the past year or so. From a relatively unknown artist, she has risen and captured the attention of many. I think JGrrey has a big future ahead, and I feel that debut album will be the real test. Her latest E.P., UGH, is another fabulous release, and it is clear that JGrrey is a prolific and hungry artist that is always looking ahead. CLASH caught up with her earlier this year, where she talked about the E.P., in addition to what music means to her:
“New EP ‘UGH’ (it stands for Understanding Greater Highs) is outstanding, with JGrrey capable of cutting right to the bone. Working with a dizzying array of guests - production comes from Cadenza and Kadiata, amongst others - it’s held together by a palpable sense of purpose.
“It all comes from something I said, and something I felt,” she insists. “It’s weird: I’ve never seen something through. Like, I’ve never held down a job, or done well at something. So when I do hear a project that I’ve made, in it’s entirety like a body of work, that sense of completion is great for me.”
JGrrey writes continuously, almost relentlessly - spending time in LA following a tour with Billie Eilish, she returned to London and went straight back to work. “Without sounding ungrateful or lazy or anything,” she adds, “I wasn’t putting much thought into ‘UGH’. It’s like, if it works, it works.”
It’s a constant sense of forward momentum, this perpetual drive that pushes JGrrey into daring new places. “I’m learning a lot about myself,” she comments. “Music is literally therapy for me. I’m talking about a lot of shit I wouldn’t talk about with anyone, but I’m putting it in songs and releasing it to thousands of people”.
The fact JGrrey is already touring with Billie Eilish – one of the music world’s biggest new names – shows that, soon, she will be touring bigger stages herself. I would advise people to check out JGrrey’s music, as it is fantastic, and the future is very bright! There are few out there who have the same power to hook the listener in as JGrrey, and I think next year will be especially important for her. Right now, investigate a truly incredible artist whose music will only get…
BETTER and better.
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