#theinputmagazine

First of all, I’m a sucker for songs which intros rise like a tsunami, that leave you knowing something’s coming, and that that something could be anything. In this song, the decision was to bring peace. You’ve got 8 seconds of three different sounds that mix the ethereal, the underwater/calm and the chaos, and then, they suddenly stop to let you land onto a peaceful first verse.

We accompany Gracie as she plays a deep, rich piano, foot all the way on the sustain pedal— which makes the frequency harmonics linger in the air of what I picture in my mind as an empty concert hall, just Gracie and her piano. Of course (and most likely) that’s not the case, but that’s the story this song tells me.

Gracie’s reminiscing about a past romantic relationship, seeking out chords that match that vibe, and even if the choice is major chords, the last sus2 chord on the progression hits the jackpot. 

“Do you remember happy together? I do, don’t you?”

As we saw in previous songs, it doesn’t take Gracie (and the producers) too much to get us where they want. It’s what they do with so little that’s impressive and what also makes us stay. The way Gracie writes, the way she phrases her thoughts, so casual yet so deep and relatable is unique.

“Is that still true?”

I wrote that particular word in bold because, if you listen carefully, the producers put a stereo echo and other effects in that single word, making my producer alter ego go “HOLY SHIT”. Again, these little details are what separates a simple producer from a great one. 

Then we are right at the chorus, a synth pad and delays on the vocals join the piano and the vocals.

“You said forever, in the end I fought it, please be honest, are we better for it?

Thought you’d hate me but instead you called and said ‘I miss you’, I caught it.”

We found ourselves again amidst the problematic romantic relationship of a teenager, where, sadly “forever” becomes a meaningless word, feelings change and drive the people involved, and all the promises that have been made are meant to be broken. 

At the end of the chorus we hear the same rising sound we heard at the beginning, now leading us to the second verse, which introduces deep percussions and a bass, all of them within the same low frequency spectrum, giving the song a much more complete sound. (Now the piano’s just covering the medium-highs, a nice change by the producers in order to separate the sounds from each other and make them clearer). We also get to hear a small falling string melody halfway through this verse, which kinda imitates a lamenting sound.

“Good to each other, give it the summer. I knew, you too.

But I only saw you once in December. I’m still confused.”

Feelings, feelings, feelings! It takes two people to just see each other once in a long time for their emotions to rise up, specially if they have some sort of history behind. It’s as if when we are teenagers our feelings peak and make a mess out of everything, and then, as adulthood comes, we learn to control them, and the way we manage romantic relationships changes for good.

Vivid imagery comes as Gracie sings a different second chorus, where she mentions fights, breaking dishes, and a haunted house (metaphorically speaking). My favorite phrase is right here, and it happens to be the title of the song: “(But) I miss you, I’m sorry.” It’s just so powerful. It means it’s not up to her. She doesn’t care there’s been fights. She doesn’t care they aren’t talking. Or she does care, but in the way that she knows they can go past all those problems. After all, they can figure it out. They can save the good moments and resume the relationship.

The instrumentation is almost the same, with more vocal harmonies and more percussive elements (I’m talking about that cinematic metal sound in the second half of the chorus, which is fantastic). 

You said, "forever," and I almost bought it. I miss fighting in your old apartment

.

Breaking dishes when you're disappointed. I still love you, I promise.

Nothing happened in the way I wanted. Every corner of this house is haunted.

And I know you said that we're not talking. But I miss you, I'm sorry.

Then, yet another sudden stop, but this time there’s no rising sound, it’s just Gracie and her piano in the middle of that infinite concert hall, and us as ghostly spectators. A moment to breath… Then, the biggest outro I’ve heard in any of the songs in the EP. 

The same instrumentation, but now they’ve added beautiful string tremolos, and, to give it even more power, they add the phrases of the second chorus in-between the phrases of the outro. And then, to make it a perfectly circular song, they leave the last four lines to be sung along with just the synth pad we heard at the beginning. 

Personal Favorite Phrase: “But I miss you, I’m sorry.”

Objective Findings:  

Key: G

Instruments: A synth pad, piano, vocals, 808 (?) bass, what sound as orchestral percussions to me, and strings, be it violins or violas. 

Chord Progression: I- I (1st inversion) - iii - IVsus2 (although I think it changes to a normal IV on the choruses)

Effects: Echo, reverb, delay, stereo imaging, a chain of compressors, equalizers and limiters.

Note: I’m sure they worked with more effects, but these are the ones that are more noticeable to me.

What do you think of “I miss you, I’m sorry”?

The fourth song in “minor” grabs my attention cause it starts with a Wurlitzer electric piano that’s playing around with changing velocities (the force applied on the keys, which changes their volume and tone) and a subtle, nice delay. That it starts with these kind of dynamic choices in a few simple chords is enough to set the mood. I also love the hoarse sound it does when the keys are lifted. 

Gracie starts singing with that whispery voice that we now recognize, the one that makes us feel we are there with her, as if she were telling us that story herself, face to face. An accompanying bass gets in halfway through the first verse, as well as a gentle synth ambient pad and a light, repetitive percussive synth. Then, in the chorus, the bass gets a bit more complex, with some step notes in between. A stronger synth ambient pad is also introduced here, and the Wurlitzer mimics the vocal melody.             

At the end of the chorus, we start hearing some electric snares, which foreshadow what’s coming next: In the second verse and throughout the whole song now, a minimalistic electric drum-set will be playing. 

The second chorus adds some vocal harmonies, a common technique we hear in almost every song nowadays, specially in the pop genre.

For me, what the producers do best, and besides everything that’s also obviously great, is adding new sounds every now and again— like in the second chorus, after the words “when quiet,” where we hear a falling short melody that’s actually arranged vocals with some effects — and small breaks that make the song breath (you can hear this after the second chorus, just before the instrumental part).

We also hear a new sound before the last refrain, kind of a distorted synth-ish guitar or guitar-ish synth  (these days it’s hard to know what’s what just by hearing it; I’d really like to know the process behind every new production). 

Then we get to the final chorus, where the producers get rid of most sounds and take us to a calm place. They leave the vocals, the bass, and a brass instrument that might have been there before, but I’m just noticing now. For the final four bars, they add the Wurlitzer chords again and it’s a wrap. 

Structure-wise, the song is really simple. Its got one verse, then it jumps straight to the chorus, then a short second verse, and finally a refrain. Then, we get the same chorus, the same refrain, and the same chorus once again— that works as an outro just as well. 

Lyric-wise, though, it’s fantastic. The vivid imagery throughout the song places a coming-of-age cinematic short inside my head. A romantic relationship of…kids, basically, which doesn’t make it any less important. Those moments mark us, whether we are 50 or 16.         “We played grown-ups”… who doesn’t. Who doesn’t think they are mature and prepared for an emotional commitment when we are that age? Yet, it tends to be chaotic and full of drama, ‘cause most of us like that, cause it makes us feel all sorts of emotions. But we eventually get tired of that. We grow up and mature, as one should. And those who get caught in those kind of games are in for serious dysfunctional relationships.

Personal Favorite Phrase: “Slept on floors of angry mornings”

Objective Findings:  

Key: Db

 Instruments: Wurlitzer electric piano, vocals, analog bass, electric percussions, at least two synth ambient pads, and that brass instrument (be it a sax, a trumpet, a horn) at the end. 

Chord Progression: I-V-VI-III (I-V-III)

Effects: Reverb, delay, stereo imaging, a chain of compressors, equalizers and limiters.

Note: I’m sure they worked with more effects, but these are the ones that are more noticeable to me.

What do you think of “Tehe”?

Under/Over is the shorter song in the EP, and it’s also my favorite. 

NME wrote that this is one of those songs that are easily forgotten, but I don’t think so. For me, Under/Over is a minimalistic work of art. A production that doesn’t yell “Hear me!”, but instead, it says “Listen to me carefully, and appreciate the sounds within,” which include a simple but beautiful piano progression, different percussions, a distorted 808 bass, vocal harmonies, at least two synth pads (one which rises and disappears, and another that seems to be in reverse) and ringing bells. 

This song goes straight to the point: Gracie starts singing and playing her Wurlitzer electric piano from the first phrase and until her very last one. In the first verse she tells us the story of a forgotten love, reminiscing the days when she could hardly function from a broken heart. She still remembers everything, and, like in “Friend”, she’s still able to access those feelings, even if she’s way over them. 

The chorus also starts early, with just the one verse before it. The distorted 808 bass is introduced, giving the song more depth. The vocals turn into rhythmically playful words and a falsetto that couldn’t fit better, giving the song more sense of dimension and spectrum. The piano chords change a bit, but they always come home to a sweet resolution. Here, we get Gracie doesn’t quite understand her feelings, which is normal for a teen: A wave of emotions is enough to make you do or not do certain things. We tend to overthink and make mistakes, to do things we think are right for us, just to realize they aren’t, as she so states in the second verse: “Thought that I’d be good the day I took down all your pictures in my room”. As if it were that easy; Emotions and feelings are way much more complex than that, and, at the end of the second verse, she seems to understand this. (“Maybe I’m just getting confused”) Exactly. 

The chorus repeats, with just a few production-wise variations (We now hear layers of delayed and echoed vocals, and a pad, which rises at the end and takes us towards the outro) and one BIG-LITTLE change in the lyrics. Now, instead of saying “I’m underwater, but I’m over you”, she sings “I’m underwater, am I over you?” She’s still confused, and rightfully so, as she’s been digging on past emotions, and most of us well know what happens when you do that: You might get stuck in the mud again. Unfortunately, we don’t get that answer from Gracie. 

Next and quickly enough, is the outro, which to me is just perfect. It’s what makes me want to repeat the song all over again and get to that part yet again— although I hate that it happens to be the end. There are chopped vocal samples along with the ongoing percussive sounds that are put here and there in a clever rhythmical pattern all around my head, different kind of synth pads that work together in harmony, an airy synth that I can’t really name (be it a bubbly trumpet or a sax), and a bell-ish hit that reminds me of a sound from Super Smash Bros. It’s just all too much and too good. It certainly gives me Owl City’s “Fireflies” vibes, which adds to why this song is my favorite. 

Personal Favorite Phrase: “I'm not chasing feelings that I don't understand"

Objective Findings:  

Key: E

Instruments: Wurlitzer electro piano, vocals, 808 bass, different percussions, at least two synth pads, bells, that airy/bubbly trumpet (which I think is also a virtual instrument) and I’m really thinking there’s a Super Smash Bros sample there or something lol.

Chord Progression: III - VII - I three times, then VII - I - II

Effects: Reverb, delay, echo, stereo imaging, a chain of compressors, equalizers and limiters. Panning (which is not an effect, but boy did they panned away!) 

Note: I’m sure they worked with more effects, but these are the ones that are more noticeable to me.