GRAE’s debut album finds her falling in and out of love within eleven stunning, nostalgic tracks that will tug at your heartstrings. GRAE’s delicate vocals deliver powerful and relatable lyrics throughout the honest and emotional release in a way that feels both familiar and fresh.
The album is spearheaded by GRAE’s soon to be iconic soft vocals, fuzzy guitar work and just a hint of 90’s nostalgia, but there are no two songs on Whiplash that sound identical. Instead, the album simply showcases everything that GRAE is capable of, all while she dives deep into the beautiful and ugly sides of relationships.
Opening Whiplash is the bright track, “Boxes,” which finds a sentimental GRAE struggling to let go of the past – something that just about anyone can relate to. The opener is quickly followed by the dreamy, “Spinning” which has her romantically declaring, “I’d rather hurt with you”. The songs that follow are either soft and sweet (“Grenade” is another great love song, proclaiming, “Maybe you’re the silver lining / the cure to my heart attack” and “Outta This World” has her smitten with a lover) or heartbreakingly bittersweet. Two of the most emotional songs on the album are “Forget You,” which finds GRAE wishing she could forget a past lover, while “No Lovey Dovey”’s warm tone contrasts with the line, “We’re better off friends”. Another standout is the emotionally vulnerable song, “Like You,” in which GRAE asks, “How can I like you if I don’t even like myself?”.
Delivered with warm, summery tones, even the emotionally heavy songs on Whiplash are incredibly easy to listen to, which makes the album’s title very fitting. Lyrically, GRAE doesn’t hold back, making for an incredibly powerful and vulnerable, yet sonically stunning release.