Hey!
My name is Grace Wilce and I’m a 21 year old, singer-songwriter based in Warwickshire/Leeds.
This EP consists of a collection of personal experiences and ideas I have had over the years, which I could never forget. Putting them into songs was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do as in order to bring them to life effectively, I’ve had to relive them. I love to write as I believe it is the most meaningful way of expressing my art and showing others an insight into my mind. I find it hard to open up and be honest in day to day life about how I feel and think in certain situations. This EP means the world to me and one day I hope that a little girl hears it and it makes her smile or dance or cry, because for me, I feel I would have done my job as an artist.
EP ‘HEAD MADE OF GLASS’
This is by no means a ‘finished EP’, this is a blueprint to give me an idea of what I might want my first project it to look/sound like so that when I am ready, I have something to follow. With that said, when putting this ‘EP’ together, I wanted to test my skills as a singer-songwriter. Therefore, I decided to collaborate with multiple people as all of these songs are based on different stories. I felt that it would be a good idea to work on each ‘story’ with someone different, these collaborations made each experience feel shared and through this I was able to understand that everyone faces the same problems in one way or another.
It is called ‘Head Made of Glass’ this title came from a time when I felt quite vulnerable. Writing some of these lyrics was challenging as I sometimes struggle to convey the way I am thinking into songs. Which is why I am working with multiple people as each person helps me bring the record to life in a different way. I consider myself a fragile person and the title demonstrates to my audience that exact idea. The concept of nobody being exempt from having these fragile and vulnerable moments give me the inspiration to allow the listener to read my thoughts within each track.
EP Track List Timing: 25:41
First Love Theory
After 2 years and many versions… this is what we managed to achieve. It is one of the more upbeat songs but, still carries that initial vulnerability within the lyrics, and the story behind the idea of trying to move on and no matter how much you try to forget about your first love, you never truly do. I sing about questioning whether it was really love or infatuation and that idea of struggling while trying to move on.
With my vocals during the verses, I was trying to emulate that idea of calmness as if I was telling you a story just before going into the chorus where I start to introduce my more direct vocals. The verses are more stylistic vocals with vocal wines and vocal flips to accentuate the emotion of being hurt and trying to tell it through song. The harmonies within the first chorus are also subtle as to not immediately bombard the listener with that idea of aggression straight away, but they do however, gradually ‘back me up’ in the sense of safety throughout the rest of the song. They feel like they add depth to not only the song but the story itself, with each harmony reiterating the word or phrase I sing to get that point across. The higher notes I sing within the pre choruses is to show that idea of it being hard to think about and that this situation meant a lot to me. Also, I wanted the melody like to feel like you were going up and down, the way you feel about situations like this, and not knowing how you feel. The bridge is, where the ‘most’ aggression comes out, as I realised that this whole relationship meant more to me if he could do the things he did and not question his actions after. So, I wanted that to be the main message to myself that love means so much to me and I will not just give it to anyone anymore, so I wanted to again emulate that idea through the change in melody and lyrics and vocally come across more upset/angry. The pre-chorus outro is stripped back to just my vocals and shakers as well as that piano to show how raw I felt and when recording it I had to re-do it multiple times because I wanted it to be me and how the most vulnerable part of the song was how I felt also when writing it which is also why my lyrics are almost whisper like to indicate this. The lyrics are mostly the same in this section however I changed them at the last minute when recording because I did not want the song to sound repetitive and I wanted the buildup after this section to be the biggest chorus where everything is in to almost sum up the song and story in one. I wanted the tone of this song to be lighter as well as a self-worth song, which is why we have developed the song into a more upbeat sound. I often find that writing these upbeat songs are hard to get across a positive message so that is what I aimed to achieve. My vocals set the tone for it seeming quite mellow so I had to mess around with the melody and my vocal range as a whole to make sure I could get this idea cross. The dynamics gradually get louder the further you get into the song, the way you normally would do if you were getting to the ‘good bit’ of a story and I loved the idea of following that pattern.
How Could You?
Originally called ‘New Years Day’, this song explored my friendship relationships rather than my romantic relationships and is actually the first song I have written where it has had to make me think about the friendships around me and realise, those who I surround myself with make me feel like I can express myself without judgement. I have always struggled to find people who make me feel seen and not stupid. I feel like this song achieved that and for how I left a friendship group, who in reality never really cared. The imagery within the song depicts this idea of a ‘new year, new me’ kind of situation and although it was hard to start over it was worth it in the long run.
I was very Ethel Cain inspired with this song, and I wanted those inspirations to each play a role. The atmospheric eerie sounds at the start and throughout the song we made in a sample and that was inspired by Ethel Cain and her use of strange unique sounds. I wanted my vocals to almost challenge the song, by this I mean I wanted them to sound eerie, while also being clear. I do a lot of wining and sliding with my vocals and playing around with melody in sections especially in the bridge where it almost sounds like it could be an entirely different song and I kind of liked that because it breaks apart the mellow song in general. With this song being about friendship breakups I thought it would be interesting to break apart one of the end sections and show my vulnerable outcome of how I felt after we fell out. Which is why the lyrics in that section are a bit more direct and aggressive because I was hurt and wanted that to come across. The dynamics in that section are mostly acoustic with dramatic piano, which I love to use to showcase my vulnerability within my songs. The dynamics are all over the place, resembling my headspace when this all happened and I love the messy feel while almost feeling empty in places because I feel like the showed the state, I was in. The tone is quite dark, especially at the start as I wanted the first verse to be vocal and lyrically centred accompanied by some jazzy guitar to try and give it that feel of looking back at the memory now and almost laughing, which is why I did not want it to be just a ‘sad song’. My vocals and lower range, match this dark tone I wanted to set. I wanted the listener to be able to visualise this song and to try and get them to stand in my shoes and almost ‘be me’ and question what they would be feeling or what they would have done and that it the idea I had while writing this. The choruses are different each time, with the first being quiet and the end of sentences being held to show how this friendship had been dragged out and questioning how they did not feel bad about doing all these things to me. The pre-choruses have this idea of longing with the melody and the way I sing, as that was how I have always looked at friendships and never quite fitting in with anyone or hiding who I really am in hopes that they would stay. I do a lot of vocal riffs every now and again to sprinkle in some variation but not too much so that I would not overdo it as the empty space within the song was the main focus.
Counting Crimes
This song is about 5 years old but finally this year I was able to bring it to life and this is the final master of the track. I really wanted it to come across as an angry feminine rage song, as it is about a boy who just could not get it right, ever. I think unconsciously I wrote this for the older me as well and my love life does not seem to improve. I have always tried to look for the best in everyone which means I give them not 2/3 but like 5 before I realise it is not me and that I deserve better. That to say, it is still an upbeat almost country inspired song when I originally wrote it aged 16/17. I wanted to keep those elements where ever I could, so the guitars have that country/pop feel.
Stylistically this song was originally country inspired and I tried to keep certain aspects of that in like the acoustic guitar and certain phrases I sing. Across multiple versions is slowly turned into more country/pop rather than the original idea, however, I sort of like how it had changed and how I have also changed and grown up a lot from when I first wrote it at 16/17. My vocals are a lot stronger now and that comes across. you are misled with the start of the song and almost don’t expect it to suddenly all come in and then gradually gets louder as more instruments are introduced. My vocals also start quiet and slowly build into chorus. The last chorus/outro also starts acoustic then halfway through you are back to the poppy vibe. The dynamics are pretty much consistent, and the melody is mostly the same throughout each section as most pop songs are. This is the first upbeat song I ever wrote, and I found that hard to incorporate the classic pop styles into this song, but I am happy with how it turned out. This song is my inner female rage, and I love the almost desperate angry feel you get while listening which is what I aimed to do. With my harsh vocals and contrasting quiet vocals I think it describes the situation I wrote about well and it is relatable in the sense of that bumpy up and down road every relationship has. This song however does focus mostly on the bad and I write about how I will not put up with it over and over again, which is where the repetitive structure of the song comes into play. This is by no means the final product like the same with the rest, but these are just the most recent demos I have made over the year, and I am confident that when they are all fully finished, I will be able to start thinking about releasing.
Razors Edge
I think this is the most transparent song I have written about my mental state. It has always fluctuated but when I sat down and really tired to draw from my head and what I had going on at the time, I found myself missing the old me. The old me who loved so deeply and I was mad when I had to leave because I couldn’t understand how he moved on so easily. I felt like I could not see the line I was meant to be following in life and it scared me. The ‘don’t you think that I don’t hate you’ line is me saying ‘I hate you, so don’t you dare think I would come running back’ kind of thing, while being polite because that is me in real life. I think if I ever re-recorded this I would make it angrier. But this version was the real and raw version, and it is long and dragged out because over the 2 years that is how I have felt about the situation, so I thought I would make it feel like this intentionally as well as that, the harmonies represent all my high and low thoughts about the situation. For me, I think it is one of my favourite songs I have written this far and can not wait to write more like it.
I chose to have the intro be around 25 seconds long to emulate the feeling of the song being quite sad and depressing. I wanted to portray the idea of life feeling like it was dragging on and you are unsure of where to go next or what to do. You were used to this idea of you and someone being together and then all of a sudden, you aren’t and this song is the reality of that. The chorus of this dynamically is loud and vocally straining to show the emotion, by going into my higher register, I always feel the most vulnerable when I go into my higher range as I struggle normally to change but I felt like this song needed that extra layer of vulnerability. This song was written with the idea of a story being told which is why the second verse is very detailed with timings and setting. The vocals are softer and less dramatic giving the impression that I have moved on and I am happier now, this then leads into the second chorus where I then enter the head voice again. The bridges tone is eerie and filled with edge to go with the lyrics. My vocals in the final chorus are my strongest and have the most harmonies to emphasis the message of the subtle anger and confusion I felt in the aftermath of the relationship.
The Man I Thought You Were
I think the title says it all. I will save you the hassle of repeating myself. lo and behold it was about the same boy I wrote ‘First Love Theory’ and ‘Razors Edge’ about. However, this was the first of the 3 written about him. Honestly out of everything he game me, the trauma was worth it in order to write these. It is your classic, ‘you aren’t who I thought you were in the end’ or ‘showing their true colours’ and it is always almost shocking and hard especially without closure. I had the pleasure of going down to london to work with Mike Rose on this song.
There are many textures and layers to this song that give off a mix of modern and old pop styles. My vocals on this track are very clear and precise as well as the harmonies giving it more depth and making tones louder and wider. The dynamics in the chorus are again louder and then the verses are quiet as well as the bridge starting and ending the same in the same manner shows that for me the story has ended and this relationship is over. This song is basically my closure and I wanted the structure to mirror this idea.
Shadows Of My Youth (Midnight Vertigo)
This was a collaboration I did with some of my friends and I had come up with the idea of ‘talking to your young self, and if you could, what would you say’. I wrote the verse lyrics which were pulled from my actual childhood stories and reflecting on it. This was the first collaboration song with more than one person, it was a long process with a lot of disagreements but then we managed to produce this. I love my vocals and harmonies on this track and I feel like you can really hear the vulnerability within my voice when I am talking to ‘little me’. The song ultimately feels nostalgic and warming while also feels quite sad due to the idea of looking back to your younger self when their life was easy and care-free.
This is the first song where we were playing around with polyphonic rhythms within the last two choruses. We thought this idea could also be the contrasting the main melody being for your older self, while this new melody is being the younger version of you coming to terms with the fact that you have to grow up eventually. The vocals are slightly different on the second melody in the chorus as to show that difference in perspectives. The harmonies in the background are very etherial and eerie making it feel like you are listening to past versions of your self. This is still in early development and there are certain sections like the bridge which we would change and shorten or build up sooner.
What is it about me? (voice memo)
This is a new song I have been working on, but did not have enough time to get everything together. But this is just a snippet of the song and the bridge has yet to be finished and the writing will be improved. But the idea would be an acoustic style song with piano and acoustic guitar and raw vocals not heavily produced. I was inspired by Lizzie McAlpine with her lyrics and story telling and this song being about self-deprecation and not feeling like I am enough or being let down again and again. This is a song where you can tell through my vocals that means a lot to me and is raw and is real. I always close my eyes when I sing this song because I am trying to go through every situation in my head and play them all back so that I can feel it all over again while I write and sing. All the flaws in my voice and all the straining are to show that I feel like I am not perfect and that this song does not need to be perfect either so I thought I would include a snippet from it and what I have written this far. I would want the chorus to be more dramatic instrumentally and to have all these etherial atmospheric sounds and to have harmonies to give that depth and tone that every ballad has. Adele also was an inspiration while writing because she was who I grew up listening to so I aimed to write something like that.
Artworks:
These are some concept singles art for each track and EP title.
I chose the black and white theme for my pictures as to me they are very vulnerable colours. I feel that when you take the colour away, you are left with no distractions and it is more confronting. It gives you more of a classic feel, similar to an old photograph. Timeless. Each photo is a frozen moment in time and that is how I want the listener to feel when listening to my songs. I feel transported back in time to that event in my life, reliving moments can be an almost bitter sweet feeling. Therefore, I thought this theme would be perfectly fitting. I have selected images that I want to show my audience that are coherent to the songs. The style of font has always been my favourite to use when designing these things for myself.
