Grace VanderWaal – Photo: Tommy Marz

Grace VanderWaal released her brand new single ‘I Don’t Like You’, on October 18th to great fanfare. The music world has been a-buzz about Grace since she won it all on America’s Got Talent in 2016. Since then she’s released music, toured with bands like Florence and the Machine and Imagine Dragons. She’s also headlined countless shows but I think one of the most impressive things she has accomplished is the maturity in her songwriting.

I Don’t Like You explores that thing that nearly everyone in a relationship has considered at one point. I love you, but I don’t like you. Though it may not always end in separation, sometimes those heated moments can cause even the strongest partnerships to go through a period of I just don’t like you right now. Grace VanderWaal walks us through her version of an endless cycle of rinse and repeat.

Here we go again in the same story

We follow the routine until we say “I’m sorry”

Pretty deep and thought provoking words, since this sort of thing can happen to anyone at any age.

Musically, she explores a combination of indie-rock and and pop production featuring timely placed bass notes and heavily reverbed guitar strikes that gives it an almost Black Keys type feel. These are all good things and I’m hoping a full album released will rely on this type of production. Staying true to herself – Grace maintains the use of her ukulele and singing style. Her voice remains powerful and her tone, magical.

Already looking forward to the next single drop. But until then, I will enjoy this latest release.

-Tommy Marz

You can follow Tommy on Twitter and let him know what you think.

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