South Carolina native Grace Joyner strikes back with her latest ambient single “Fake Girlfriend”. Her dynamic alternative sound has sparked the interest of many, by performing at SXSW and Savannah Stopover, sessions at Daytrotter and Breakthru Radio, and by obtaining a sync opportunity on the CW’s hit show Riverdale. Her latest single “Fake Girlfriend” displays Grace Joyner's dynamic range of musical inspiration, as she shapes her life experiences and translates them effortlessly through her celestial and rhythmic music. Unveiling mesmerizing and haunting vocals, portraying the likes of Lana Del Rey and Feist. “Fake Girlfriend” brings an eclectic mix of alternative and somber rock, all sculpted to Grace Joyner’s liking.
As the track begins, we’re hit with a throbbing bassline overtop subtle mid-tempo percussion. All enhancing Grace Joyner’s sultry and sensuous vocals towering over elevated drum patterns and groovy bass. With the appearance of faint electric guitar picking at the chorus, “Fake Girlfriend” provides compelling instrumentation perfectly evening out the track sonically. With effects that display a droning and woeful atmosphere perfectly complimenting the message of the song, and genuine meaning with authentic lyrics like “How hard is it to be sweet to your fake girlfriend? Don't you know she loves you?”. It’s clear that Grace Joyner has thoroughly crafted her sound to reflect her lyrics and life experiences, all while capturing brilliant imagery with an incredibly relatable message.
Listen to "Fake Girlfriend" here.
Hey Grace Joyner, welcome to BuzzMusic! We’re completely mesmerized by your soaring and ‘graceful’ vocals on your single “Fake Girlfriend”! Could you share what your creative process was like when writing the expressive song? Thank you so much! I wrote it from a personal place of frustration with a position a relationship of mine was in at the time. To be honest it just popped in my head & I didn't take it too seriously. I thought it was just a cheeky little tune I wrote to express my inner frustration. Anyway I got in a fight with the person I was with & just so happened I was headed to the studio to record right after. I was kind of fired up & jokingly showed it to my producer who is also like my therapist, Wolfgang Zimmerman. He convinced me to record it & it turned out to be one of my favorites on the record. It was a period of time in this relationship we ended up working through, but I think a lot of us have felt like a fake girlfriend or boyfriend at some point. Our generation is very independent, & committing seriously can be scary so we end up in these limbo relationships where we get what we need out of it but don't go through the motions of actualizing a partnership. The song is meant to be a reflection of that. We’re blown away by your skilled lyric writing and finding meaning within words on “Fake Girlfriend”. Could you expand a little more on your lyrics “How can you get the world from a ghost?” Thanks! So this song is sort of a story of someone who is in love & the person they are with relies on them for support & care, but won't fully commit...so it's this limbo-land. This particular lyric is expressive of trying really hard to love someone who just isn't present or really there for you. It's a plea for help-You love someone so much but they are just emotionally gone...or dead in this case. I don't think you should ever regret loving someone-but at what point do you recognize you can't get the world from a ghost? With your recent album, you mention that you took bigger risks during your songwriting process and pushed personal boundaries. Why do you think it’s important for artists to test those boundaries and get out of their comfort zone? I can only speak to my personal experience, but the artists I most admire usually are the ones that surprise you. Leonard Cohen for example. In one of his most famous works, Chelsea Hotel, at one point he describes getting head in a hotel room...but no one who knows that song thinks of this lyric when they think of the song. Everyone has their own interpretation I am sure-but to me it was always a reflection of how lonely it can be to be an artist...even when you are wildly successful. Anyway, whatever that song means to you-we can all agree he was just saying whatever the hell he wanted to as most of the time he did. I try to take this approach to my work. I want my music to be a snapshot of my emotional journey in life- if you like it, it means something to you, or you can relate to it-that is awesome & if not that's ok too. Since your first EP in 2014, to your latest single “Fake Girlfriend” in 2020, do you think your music has grown with you over time? What can we expect to see from you throughout 2020? For sure I think my music has grown with me. When I released that first EP I was 23...just graduated from college, freshly stepping on my own two feet. I was exploring very different parts of life & just starting to take music more seriously. In the past 6 years, I think I have been through a lot & my emotions & experiences have shifted. So my music will shift with that. Well... with everything that is going on in the world right now I'm not so sure yet what 2020 will bring. We were hoping to tour off this record in spring-but every day that passes that seems less likely. We are pushing through as planned to release the record on 4.24.20 because especially if we are all stuck at home now is a great time to share music with the world & the people you love. We would love to get back on the road & back on stage because this is a huge part of why we love the industry-but we will have to see how the next few months pan out to see when we can get back there. I suspect I will be doing a lot of writing in 2020 as many musicians will be.