Texas singer/songwriter Grace Gardner recently released her debut EP, “Peach”, on March 3.
Inspired by her parent’s favorite artists from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as her own favorite
bands (Fleetwood Mac especially), Gardner uses her incredible musical abilities to create
compositionally intricate and dreamlike songs about heartbreak, self-love and relationships.
Before the release of “Peach”, Gardner spoke in a press conference about the process of putting
together the EP, inspirations behind the aesthetics of the album, and what this album means to
her.
“Peach” has four songs, two of which, “Parcel” and “Deny Me”, were previously released as
singles before the album’s debut. The songs on the album address themes centered around love,
healing, and what may happen in the aftermath of letting someone go.
Gardner produced the entire EP herself, something she says she’s very proud of. Her first song,
“Radio Silence”, was not produced by her. She doesn’t perform it so much now, as she says it
doesn’t seem to represent who she is as an artist anymore. Gardner says she enjoyed being so
involved in the production process of “Peach”.
“I feel more in touch with my artistry with every release,” she says.
In her music, Gardner sings with poetic vulnerability. Writing unapologetically through her own
perspective as well as others, Gardner writes about healing and navigating through love.
“I use songwriting as a tool to gain understanding about the things around me,” says Gardner.
Talking about the overall theme of “Peach”, Gardner describes the EP as a “processing project”.
Songs on the album are Gardner’s attempts to understand how or why certain things were
happening to her at different points in her life. One song, “Designated Driver”, she describes as a
friend break-up song - something that sometimes hurts more than actual breakups.
“Unrequited love in multiple ways shows up on the album, both romantically and platonically
speaking,” says Gardner.
The process of making “Peach” involved a lot of remote collaboration. Gardner worked with
friends who would send recordings of instruments for the album.
“It was hard to do it alone, mostly because of the feelings that were contained in it and were
tough to process alone without other collaborators to work through them with you,” says
Gardner. “I’m looking forward to having some more in-person collaboration for my album.”
Gardner says that this album, which will be her debut full-length studio release, may hopefully
come out some time this summer or fall.
The EP’s vintage-esque cover shows a set of keys and keychains against a dark blue background
next to the EP’s title listed numerous times along the left side of the cover. On the cover, fans
can spot several Easter eggs of Gardner’s previous songs, such as “Scorpions Don’t Live
Forever” (a favorite among fellow Scorpios such as Gardner) and “Parcel”.
The title is inspired by numerous aesthetics and aspects of Gardner’s life. Growing up in
rural Texas, Gardner recalls the town of Fredericksburg, a city outside of Austin, that she says
was “famous” for peaches.
“I was raised to think that these peaches were God’s nectar,” Gardner laughs. “So peaches were
always my favorite fruit. I would wait every spring and summer. We would go down there so
much and get so many peaches. They were just a central part of my childhood.”
Gardner says that films such as “Parasite” (2019) and “Call Me By Your Name” (2017) also inspired the album name when peaches were used as a symbol for bad things about to happen.
And lastly, Peach happens to be the name of her ex’s cat.
Grace Gardner creates music with vivid lyrics and an edgy peacefulness. Her work combines the
rustic charm and authenticity of Texas combined with the multi-instrumental components found
in the jazz music of New Orleans, where she also lived for some time. Gardner’s music is
dreamy, relatable, and heartbreakingly honest.
In her song “Deny Me”, Gardner sings,
“Will you deny me? Tell me the way I’ve got a death grip on someday
Well, maybe it’s got me the other way around
Do me a favor and let me down”
Gardner seems to be saying that, as painful as it is, it’s best if the one she loves doesn’t love her
back. It’s this bittersweetness in her lyrics that fans adore so much. As heartbreaking as her
words are, one can’t deny that Gardner is the next indie artist to keep your eye on.
“Peach” is out now on all streaming platforms. <3