Sarah Grace - Sarah Grace

  by Lisa Torem

published: 31 / 7 / 2009

intro

Lisa Torem finds on the promise of her first two singles Manchester born singer-songwriter Sarah Grace, whose debut album 'On the Fence' is due out shortly, to be an outstanding new talent and name to watch out for

Manchester born singer-songwriter Sarah Grace won an unsigned artist competition after submitting three rough demos to Slicethepie.com and subsequently used her funding to create the debut album 'On the Fence' from which the singles, 'Come Fly' and 'Cry Me to Sleep' emerge. Fortunately, these two cuts are a marvelous pair for showcasing Grace’s musicality. Overall, her voice compares to the untainted quality of America’s Taylor Swift in terms of being captivatingly engorged in emotion and in terms of songwriting - these melodies are respectively spot-on in terms of structure and hauntingly moving in regards to flow. Her vocal texture also allows one’s mind, however, to drift backwards to memories of post-break up tears and love’s first blush. Her interpretive skills are Herculean – phrases that commence in subtle trickles resolve into warm, gushy waterfall. 'Come Fly With Me' has a country-blues flavour made more punchy with a bold rhythmic, acoustic guitar backing. The mood is bright and optimistic broadcasting the line “put your trust in me” and, from the very first measure, Grace’s vocals unleash refreshing carbonation – tantamount to the explosive surge you experience when you crack open the bottle-cap of your favourite soda. 'Cry Me to Sleep' is, in contrast, a gentle tear-jerker, beginning with the line “a thousand eyes would see a happy couple in love…” edging toward “but they don’t see the stars in his eyes.” The resultant mood is sparsely beautiful as Grace quietly cajoles the listener into this intimate confessional. Overall these singles act as a teaser -therefore it’s too early to determine how these cuts coincide with the rest of 'On the Fence - but, however, if they truly equal or surpass the quality of those which they will rest alongside, Sarah Grace has created an outstandingly superb debut.