REVIEW: Grace Cummings – Ramona

I asked to review Ramona, the third album from Australian singer-songwriter Grace Cummings, for a simple reason. On hearing single ‘On and On’ I couldn’t help but make a comparison to Angel Olsen, one of my all time favourite artists (and someone I spoke about during the Why I Love section of the Picky Bastards podcast not that long ago). ‘On and On’ is the second song here, and alongside opener ‘Something Going ‘Round’ the Olsen influence is clear. Both songs have sweeping builds, searing vocals, gorgeous layers of instrumentation, and bags of personality. A cracking way to kick off the album, and a comparison that can only be seen as a positive.

But it’s with the playful ‘I’m Getting Married To The War’ that Cummings really comes into her own for the first time. Not to say that this is better than the opening two songs (although it is at least as good), but there is something much more unique about the way she delivers this song. Her voice shows more range, the piano suggests a more creative and original musicianship, and the lyrics – while not always entirely clear in terms of meaning – show a more entertaining and involving side to her work. It is also a song that doesn’t sound like anyone else I can recall, so gives the album its first real moment of distinctness.

Many of the things that make ‘I’m Getting Married To The War’ feel special continue through most of the remaining LP. ‘Love and the Canyon’ really shows the vocal range again – while it is often the moments when artists show how high they can sing that stand out, Cummings feels most exciting in her lower register. The almost growled moments on ‘Love and the Canyon’ make an otherwise quiet song quite captivating. This is followed by ‘Work Today (and Tomorrow)’ – and if there is ever a Bond film by that name, then they have a ready-made song here. And I mean that in a good way. This song has all the sweeping drama of an intro montage moment, but without any of the cheese.

There is a solid, but less spectacular, run of songs after that. ‘Everybody’s Somebody’, ‘Common Man’, and ‘Without You’ all keep the quality of the album going even if the uniqueness dims somewhat. Cummings sounds amazing on all of them, though. But it’s on title song ‘Ramona’ that you again feel like you might be in the company of a one-off. The growled vocal is key once more, but the most impressive thing is how the song builds from a rather simple and slow opening verse to an absolute wail of release in the second half of the song. If you just want to get a quick sense of Grace Cummings before committing, give this song a listen.

And while we never quite hit those heights again, there is certainly no tail off as the albums winds towards its end. ‘A Precious Thing’ is a standout vocally and ‘Help Is On Its Way’ is packed full of power, showing that Cummings can do the quiet emotional moments just as well as the visceral growls. Technically, the album then ends with a ‘radio edit’ of ‘On and On’. I’m not counting that in my tracklist, but it is such a good song – with such an interesting set of lyrics – that it can’t hurt to hear it again. And in the end, I think that is how I’ll feel about Ramona all year long. Despite already listening to it a ton of times in preparation for this review, I can’t imagine it leaving my rotation any time soon. It may be her third album, but for me it was a great to introduction to an artist I’ll be enjoying for years to come.

Words by Fran Slater