Parker Graye is a singer-songwriter from Vancouver, BC – originally from Orillia, Ontario – who has just released her debut single, ‘Do Over’. It’s a soaring country pop/rock track and its power is in Graye’s voice, which is nuanced and emotional. Although this is a debut, Graye is an assured artist who has spent the past two years working with other songwriters and producers for her own project as well as other artists. She has co-written over 20 songs with songwriters across Canada, and throughout the US. That suggests an artist who’s constantly working to create even better work – which is why it’s not hard to understand how ‘Do Over’ came to be a sophisticated first outing.
Instagram: @parkergraye
***
With the release of her singles ‘Hades’ and ‘Maybe’ Melbourne singer-songwriter Emily Hatton established that she’s a versatile, eclectic artist – while still sitting under the country umbrella – and she has consolidated that impression with her latest release, the country pop track ‘Why’d You Have To?’.
It’s a song about wanting to dive in to love despite being hurt in the past, then trying to hold back because of that hurt, which then sets up a push-and-pull momentum. ‘The more you try to push your feelings away, the stronger they get,’ says Hatton. ‘They take over the space in your mind, and you just want more. You like [the person] so much you hate them a little bit for it. Because they make you feel like you’re losing control. You want to ask them, “Why do you have this effect on me? Why you? Why’d you have to do that?”’
The song was written on the plane ride home from a recording session, and Hatton says, ‘The melody came out of nowhere, and then I couldn’t get it out of my head, just like this person … and I thought that was perfectly fitting. It’s the sound of me giving in. Falling in love with reckless abandon.’