Music

TEENAGE REBEL- Released September 23

Ann Gray, on her new original single:

"I came up with the first verse of Teenage Rebel while working as a sort-of waitress at a sleep away camp during the summer, finding myself just humming and laughing along to certain lyric ideas as I monotonously wiped tables or filled water jugs (and probably spilled them, to be quite honest.  It was all sort of based around this gag that my friends and I had created. See, for my entire sophomore year, no matter the circumstances, I always tried to go to bed at 9 pm. I was also incredibly obsessed with grades, had just started going to therapy and, for once, I was actually dealing with my mental health. I pretty much had this big ball of teenage angst building up inside me, which I found incredibly funny. But, also, there was another side of me that was just fed up with the phrase I had heard oh too many times: “What could you possibly be worried about at your age?” To which the song pretty much answers - "a lot". Especially considering all of the mental health issues that were so prominent at the time (which do still obviously exist, but I have learned how to manage better over time), it just infuriated me how some adults thought that kids must have it so easy, simply based on their age. Thus, I picked up my electric guitar and did what I would then classify as shredding-of course, now it just seems more like a very loud acoustic. Luckily, my amazing mixing engineer Johnny, helped me out with the guitar, and ultimately made the song sound even more incredible than I had imagined. And of course, if you need any more convincing to listen to the song, know that the angst builds up so much in the song that I even *rap*at the end. . .and later, I even extended my own bedtime by a whole thirty minutes!"

Listen to “Teenage Rebel”

Grace- Released 8/19/22

Ann Gray, on "Grace":

Whenever I think back on the beginnings of this song, it always seems to signify a sort of milestone in my writing for me. I wrote it when I was in a really awful period of writer’s block, actually. As an exercise, I tried to write a song from the perspective of a character from another song. I had just been to Delaware, visiting my cousin (and pretty much best friend since birth) Viv, and we had just written a song called “Ophelia” about two friends leaving each other for college. And so, I decided to write a song from Ophelia’s perspective, ultimately directed at the character whose point of view the first song had been written from (and as the song title just might possibly suggest, I chose the name Grace). Although I've only just started looking at colleges and thinking about that daunting phase in my life, I had also just been directly introduced to that peculiar, bittersweet feeling. I had recently become the only kid in the house after my last sister left for college. Ultimately, the line “growing up happens when you least expect it to” began to steer the concept of the piece. I was inspired to write it after my older sister, whom I often fought with and despised for the first couple years of my life, said that she loved me with red, crying eyes as she left. And of course, almost as if I was just realizing the truth of these words at that very moment, I said it back. It was this overwhelming moment that replays in my head from time to time, and just the maturity and wonder which it evoked so suddenly. All in a singular instance. Not due to some blowing out of birthday candles or some number on a calendar, but from a random instance where I simply felt myself. . .growing up.

Listen to "Grace"

City of a Million- Released 7/1/22

Ann Gray, on "City of a Million":

When I first came up with the idea of City of a Million, it was merely a guitar track and a snare drum track that I'd made on a midi keyboard. I was particularly inspired by Jack Antonoff’s band Bleachers, and after a long car ride of binging his latest album, I discovered a newfound love of rock music. 

I remember being fascinated by this idea of a toxic, urban “love” story, so I took the idea in to the studio to bring it to life. Luckily, the amazing producer I was working with, was just as big a Bleachers fan as I was. I absolutely bopped out in the studio as he added these brilliant guitar riffs and licks. After we got a live drummer in the studio, the song truly exceeded my expectations.

When writing the lyrics, I really wanted to focus on capturing different aspects of urban-inspired imagery (red lights, park benches, crowded apartments), while still communicating an impetuous young relationship (”tried to find the silver lining in the so called golden years”). This imagery was especially integral in the piece, as I wanted it to be laced with dark blues and greens. Sort of an eerie, late night escapade and a terrifying and consumingly exciting rush of adrenaline. The phrase “Teenage Runaway” was also inspired by a Bleachers song.

One of my favorite parts both writing and performing from the song though was probably in the second verse: “Oh my god who is she, that girl you mentioned once / and you don’t care about me until somebody else does". It captures that unhealthy, on again off again aspect of the characters’ relationship. Another production addition that was so fun, was the part where we put on a bunch of tracks of me screaming the words “remember that you ruined this city for me". It really highlighted the desperation I was trying to convey.

I still have vivid memories of my dad and I screaming along at full volume to the latest mixes of it while we were driving home from the studio, and it has grown to become, dare I say, one of my favorite songs on the entire album.

Listen to “City of a Million”

21st Century- Released 5/27/22

Ann Gray, on "21st Century"

As some of you may know, I am, in fact, a teenager, and 21st Century was sort of my attempt at encapsulating the teenage experience at this point in time. In a world of such ever-present social media and technology, we’re repeatedly given these impossible, capricious standards and ideals to aspire to achieve. It’s a concept I think the second verse of the song captures the best: “Tell me what’s trendy, tell me what’s the new ideal / Tell me who I’m supposed to be, tell me how I’m supposed to feel.”

Listen to "21st Century"

Sirens, Released 11/19/21

Now streaming on all digital platforms!

Ann Gray's original November 2021 single, "Sirens", captures the heart-tugging earnest truth of un-requited love, in a majestically lush track fusing pop vocals with Acoustic Guitar, and ethereal soundscapes.

Listen to SIRENS