Teddy Grey is an artist that delivers versatile auditory experiences to listeners. Whether Teddy Grey is writing about fictional or personal experiences, their music is always delivering a certain kind of quality that goes unmissed. Teddy Grey's music embodies a range of themes, affecting emotions and perceptions, which all tend to be an experience worth delving into. The latest offering from Teddy Grey includes an acoustic duet with Michael Lepore, which allows Teddy to shine in a grander, varying light.
"When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)" is the goosebump-worthy song release by Teddy Grey and Michael Lepore. Featuring a slow-paced, harmonious vocal melody between the two, "When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)" is a heartthrob extravaganza, inspired by the relationship between Tennessee Williams and his longtime partner, Frank Merlot.
Teddy Grey intended for "When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)" to be soulful, as they expressed the realities of heartbreak, ultimately sharing the whirlwind of emotions that follow. Teddy Grey is able to shine a light on the fact that heartbreak is often romanticized in today's society. Nevertheless, heartbreak is still heartbreak and it can destroy not only one's spirit but one's soul.
If you're in for an emotionally-stirring performance, then "When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)" by Teddy Grey and Michael Lepore is the pop-inspired song for you.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Teddy Grey. How does it feel to have finally released "When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)" with Michael Lepore? Can you share your experience with the collaboration?
It feels great! This song is so different stylistically than anything else I’ve put out up to this point, but reception to it seems to be positive so far. This is a relief because I didn’t know how my listeners would react to a soft, subtle acoustic duet after releasing mostly loud, in-your-face pop-punk for the last year and a half. I’ve collaborated with Michael on nearly every song I’ve ever written, and he’s basically been my producer and session musician from the beginning, but this is the first time we’ve ever gotten his vocals on one of my tracks as well. The texture of his voice I think blends very well with mine, and that in addition to the piano line that he contributed to the song I really think made it prettier and more delicate than my music tends to be.
What an incredible, yet painfully beautiful storyline "When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)" contains. What influenced your decision to create a song inspired by the relationship between Tennessee and Frank? One of the major themes of the album is how heartbreak can both inspire and hinder the creative process, and how many of the most celebrated artists throughout history have mined their own relationship troubles for the material. Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo’s relationship seemed like a perfect story to illustrate this theme further because it showcases what a double-edged sword the concept of heartbreak can be to an artist. On the one hand, their tumultuous relationship provided boundless inspiration for Tennessee Williams to draw upon, and it was while we were going through the rough patches that he wrote some of his most major works. On the other hand, once they separated and Frank tragically passed away, Tennessee was never able to recapture that same spark again, both in his private life and in his writing. So it shows how if you’re creative, heartbreak can both give and take away.
How were you hoping your audience would interpret "When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)," and ultimately feel upon listening to the heart-stinging song?
I was hoping the audience would be taken aback a bit. I think what people have come to expect from me if they’re been following my music, is the sardonic, high-energy pop-punk style of songs like “Let’s Not Have Kids” and Sad Eyebrows.” So to put out a plaintive acoustic duet about the perils of heartbreak on the creative spirit is somewhat of a curveball. That’s why we paired it with the more traditional rock sounding song “There’s Nothing That I Love (But You Come Close) (Sid & Nancy)” - to showcase both the variety of sounds on the album and to assure people not to worry, there will be fun, loud rock songs on the album as well. But ultimately, however people want to interpret the song is fine with me. While I know the context behind it, and what it means to me personally, I think it’s one of the few songs on the album where the lyrics are open-ended enough that it doesn’t necessarily have to be interpreted as just one particular thing.
Do you see your future work adhering to a similar style used in "When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)?"
As was the case with many of the songs on The Great Failed Romances of the Twentieth Century, “When Your Heart Breaks (Tennessee & Frank)” was a genre exercise, and a challenge to myself to see if I could write a song in a different style than I usually do (in this case, a Sufjan-esque acoustic ballad). And it went better than expected! It proved to me that I can write this sort of music and that it seemed a more natural fit than I imagined it would have been, so yes, you can definitely expect more of these sorts of songs in the future, although probably not more than 1 or 2 per album. I like to keep a good amount of variety genre-wise in my music, to keep things interesting for myself. But there are at least a few other songs on The Great Failed Romances of the Twentieth Century that strike a similar note of subtlety, and I hope they go over as well with people as “When Your Heart Breaks” has so far!
What's next for you?
The full album will be released on October 22nd, featuring 29 other stories of famous couples that messily split up and went down in history. So we’re looking forward to the full release! After that, a series of videos will be trickling out explaining the history behind each of the couples, as well as the context behind the songs as well (With plenty of jokes peppered in - We’re not just looking to give people a straightforward history lesson, by any means). After that, there are a few different avenues in which we’re considering taking this project down. I personally am hoping that these songs make it to the stage at some point, as I think the album is naturally theatrical and would lend itself well to a show. Beyond that, I already have another album mostly written already, but that’s a way down the road. With a 30 song album, there’s plenty more to be discussed with this particular project before I move on to the next one!
