Single Review: Isaac Gracie – All in My Mind
Header photo by Charlotte Patmore
Singer/songwriter Isaac Gracie has been busy so far this summer, having recently played the support slot for a handful of shows with Nick Mulvey as well as appearing at Worthy Farm for Glastonbury Festival last weekend. Just before that flurry of live activity, Gracie released an already familiar song, ‘All in My Mind’, as his latest single, accompanied by a brand new promo video.
‘All in My Mind’ is the lead track from Gracie’s 2016 live EP ‘Songs in Black and White’, recorded at London’s Waiting Room last July. The EP was released last September, but this new video features a studio recording of ‘All in My Mind’, and the official single release seemed like a good occasion to take a closer listen to the song.
The layered vocals in the track’s opening moments are surprising, but positively so, setting a tone of hazy psychedelia that feels very appropriate to the song’s title. Breaking through the haze is Gracie’s remarkable solo vocal, which flows seamlessly between raw emotional stridency and gentle, expertly-executed vibrato.
The song itself is as poignant and packed with feeling as we’ve come to expect from Gracie, exploring a tempestuous romantic relationship. Alternating moments of clarity and uncertainty play out both in the kaleidoscopic musical arrangement and in the visual representation below. The instrumental bridge at 2:50, ahead of Gracie’s whispered final lines, is nothing short of exquisite.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting a substantial release of music from Isaac Gracie since I first encountered him at SXSW 2016. Though Gracie himself seems to be in no hurry, his singles and EP releases have certainly whetted appetites for a full-length album. This beautiful and sensitively-produced studio version of ‘All in My Mind’ might just indicate a step in that direction.
8/10
‘All in My Mind’ is out now on Buried Crowns / Virgin EMI. Isaac Gracie will play a list of live dates in the UK this October; you can find the details here. TGTF’s previous coverage of Isaac Gracie is back through here.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/uUyZHgiVOsg[/youtube]
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