Ramona

About

Grace Cummings’ voice is larger than life on the Melbourne songwriter’s third album. Working in California’s Topanga Canyon with producer Jonathan Wilson (Margo Price, Father John Misty), Cummings answers the dynamic orchestral arrangements with her own powerful, versatile instrument. Her lyrics follow suit, edging into a fed-up state of dismissiveness on opener “Something Going ’Round”: “You think you know me like a folk song/Or a book that you read once.” Yet just a couple of songs later, she’s cool and collected against the castanets and jazzy licks of “I’m Getting Married to the War.” There’s a natural darkness to Cummings’ singing already, and <i>Ramona</i> uses it to process grief and other painful turns in life. The lush instrumental palette is equally impressive and transportive, featuring everything from banjo to harp on top of more traditional guitar, bass, piano, and drums. Shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize, the album makes a strong case for why Cummings should be performing in large theaters and concert halls rather than in smaller clubs—simply to give her alternately brooding and soaring voice the open space it demands.

via Apple Music