Grace Cummings-Ramona.
Label: Ato Records.
Format: CD.
Melbourne-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist released her self-produced debut album 'Refuge Cove' in 2019. A lot has happened since then, and now she's been hailed as one of the rising stars of Australia's thriving music scene.
Three years after the release of 'Refuge Cove,' Cummings returned with her much-anticipated sophomore album 'Storm Queen' in 2022. Just like her debut album, it was self-produced, and showcased a truly talented singer, songwriter and musician.
'Storm Queen' was funded by a relief program funded by the city of Melbourne-Covid relief program. When the album was released to widespread critical acclaim it was nominated for the Australian music prize in 2022. This resulted in Cummings' music reaching a wider audience.
Just two years later, and Cummings returns with her eagerly-awaited third album 'Ramona,' which was released by Ato Records. Unlike her first two albums, this career-defining album was produced by Jonathan Wilson who previously, has worked with Angel Olsen and Margo Price. To record this lavishly orchestrated album, Cummings left Melbourne behind and flew to LA.
The album was recorded at Fivestar Studios in Topanga Canyon with a crack band of session musicians, who it seemed, were channeling then spirit of the legendary Wrecking Crew. They play their part in a stunning, soul-baring and very personal album from Grace Cummings.
She said prior to the release of 'Ramona': "In the past I've been caught up in worrying about whether I'm being too emotional or over-the-top, but this time around I decided not to filter any of that out... My only intention was to be myself, which meant being extremely vulnerable in my writing and my vocal performance, without going back and editing myself later on. It reaffirmed for me that being completely yourself is really the only way to offer the world something that it doesn't already have." That's definitely the case here.
Producer Jonathan Wilson heaped praise on Cummings saying: "She is one of the most powerful singers I have ever recorded. Her emotional delivery of music is just stunning, a once in a lifetime thing. I remember first hearing her music and being completely blown away, which hasn't happened in a long lonely time."
Angel Olsen who Wilson also produced, said when she heard Cummings: "It felt like the wind of a hurricane entered the room. I remember feeling so activated and surprised by Grace's vocal capacity that I actually felt my body brace itself against the wall." That power and emotion is put to good use on Ramona.
It's an album where Cummings explores what's she capable of doing as a vocalist. Deep down she's always known what she's capable of. However, she seemed to hold back and didn't unleash a vocal that's powerful, emotive, soulful and theatrical. It's an album that's capable of breathing life and meaning into lyrics and seamlessly switching between different genres.
Cummings explains how things changed on 'Ramona': "I was able to explore a lot of things I've always known I could do with my voice but held back in the past, because I was trying to fit into a particular genre or sound…There are moments of prettiness on this album, but also some soul and some parts that are almost operatic—I just tried to match the feeling of the song, and didn't think about anything else." This has worked really well on an accomplished and flawless album that should introduce the Melbourne-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist to the wider audience her music deserves.
It's no surprise that Cummings is a talented actress as there's elements of theatricality throughout the album. This includes on the title-track. Cummings explains: "I wrote that at a time when I wasn't doing well and had the sense that other people saw me as a weak little bird." The singer drew inspiration from Bob Dylan's 1964 song 'To Ramona.' She explains: "I didn't want to be myself so I decided to be Ramona instead, full of intensity and melodrama. For me there's a lot of safety in putting on a costume or a mask; sometimes it feels like the only way to express any true honesty and vulnerability."
The eleven tracks on 'Ramona' are akin to an emotional roller coaster, as Cummings unleashes a series of soul-baring vocals on this highly personal album. It features impassioned performances that showcase Cummings' versatility as a vocalist. Providing the perfect backdrop are Jonathan Wilson's arrangements.
That's the case on the opening track 'Something Going 'Round' where Wilson combines the lushest of strings with dramatic drums, piano, organ, horns, tubular bells and soaring harmonies. Meanwhile, Cummings lays bare her soul delivering a vocal that's a mixture of power, passion and emotion.
The tempo increases on 'On and On,' a piano led track. There's a story behind the song. Cummings explains "I wrote that about watching a friend of mine play with their little boy and thinking how beautiful it was, and questioning any other part of life that isn't as good as that." It's a beautiful, ethereal sounding track with a vocal bristling with emotion. Hooks haven't been rationed on what's a truly memorable and anthemic track.
It's all change on 'I'm Getting Married To The War.' The arrangement starts off understated and spacious. This is the perfect accompaniment to Cummings' heartfelt vocal. Soon, it starts to grow in power and is tinged with frustration and even anger. Meanwhile the arrangement is rockier with searing guitars and a swirling organ joining forces with the driving rhythm section and harmonies. When all this is combined it shows another side to the musical chameleon Grace Cummings.
'Love and The Canyon' is a piano led ballad. Wilson's slow and understand arrangement combines elements of country and folk. It's the perfect backdrop for another heart-wrenching and soul-baring vocal from Cummings. The result is a beautiful and moving ballad.
Strings sweep in during the introduction to 'Work Today (And Tomorrow)' before Cummings delivers a heartfelt, impassioned and theatrical vocal. It's as if she's playing a part in a play as she lives the lyrics, delivering them from somewhere deep inside and drawing upon personal experience.
'Everybody's Somebody' is a relationship song where Cummings seems to criticises a former partner. Her bluesy vocal is powerful full of anger and frustration. No wonder. She sings: "Smoke in your room till the sun rises, And tell yourself that you're number one, And maybe write a letter to your son, If you miss him so much?" Meanwhile horns, piano, guitars and drums play an important part in the arrangement as Cummings delivers one of her finest and most dramatic and moving performances on 'Ramona.'
Prior to the release of the album, Cummings told the story behind the song 'Common Man.' She said: "A person I once knew wrote a song about wanting to be a common man: work 9 to 5, come home and have a cup of tea, and be so tired he wouldn't worry about anything and go right to sleep. That sounds like my worst nightmare…So I wrote about wanting to be a cowboy instead, which to me represents complete freedom and detachment from this mundane world." That's the case on this carefully crafted feelgood song from Grace Cummings. Her vocal is veers between tender to a much more powerful and tougher sound. In doing so, she continues to showcase her versatility as a vocalist.
Just an acoustic guitar sets the scene on the ballad 'Without You.' It finds a reflective Cummings singing of love lost, while around her the world stays the same. It's as if nobody is aware of her hurt and heartache, and the sadness she experiences every hour of every day. It sounds like a deeply personal song from Cummings and is without doubt one of the highlights of 'Ramona.'
From the heartfelt vocal of 'Without You,' Cummings is transformed on 'A Precious Thing.' Her vocal veers from being devastated to anger, frustration and fury. The devastation is omnipresent in the lyrics to a song Cummings said: "I wrote that song on Christmas Eve, feeling exactly the way you'd assume from listening to it….It's just an everyday tragedy that I tried to sculpt into something beautiful." That's apparent when listening to the lyrics: "Love is just a thing, That I'm trying to live without, And oh, what a precious thing, But it's nothing I care about." It's a heart-wrenching song where Cummings sings about having her heart broken. Hopefully writing and recording the song was a powerful and cathartic experience for her.
Closing Ramona is "Help Is On Its Way." It's a melancholy sounding song that Cummings sings tenderly. She said that: "I think that's the most meaningful song for me on this album…I wasn't in a good way when I wrote it, but there's a tiny glimmer of hope at the end that let me know what the whole record was supposed to be: a way of finding some beauty and profundity in painful times." Let's hope that's the case for Grace Cummings an truly talented singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who closes this deeply personal album with a song that's full of meaning and hope.
'Ramona' is without doubt the finest album of Grace Cummings' three album career. It's a career-defining album where she comes of age musically as a singer and songwriter. She showcases her versatility and ability to breathe life, meaning and emotion into the eleven carefully crafted and lavishly orchestrated songs on the album. Sometimes Cummings' voice is soulful, other times bluesy, while other times, elements of country, folk and rock can be heard. Cummings is a musical chameleon who flits seamlessly between disparate musical genres. The result is 'Ramona,' a beautiful, moving and deeply personal and stunning soul-baring and hopefully, cathartic album from Australian songstress Grace Cummings who has a big future ahead of her.
Grace Cummings-Ramona.
