Being on the other side of chaos is an exciting place to be, according to Grace Weber, L.A. based R&B artist. The songwriter’s latest single, Feels Like Heaven, takes listeners straight into that emotion – the freedom, and smooth serenity-filled joy of a new season.
Videos by American Songwriter
The track lands as the first rollout of Weber’s forthcoming album, a project the singer describes as a restart moment in her career.
“I feel like I’ve really finally landed in my sound as an artist,” Weber says. “It took me a little bit to discover who I am as a complete artist and not just a singer.”
Weber told American Songwriter her journey as an artist and musician has seen a couple phases and spheres of influence, including her time spent working with Chance the Rapper on the opening track for his 2016 album, Coloring Book – a project which led Weber to her first GRAMMY when the mixtape won Best Rap Album at the 2017 GRAMMY Awards.
“It wasn’t until I met The Social Experiment guys who were working with Chance that I really felt like ‘now I’m working with collaborators who I feel like can help me bring this gospel sound and combine it with this songwriting side of me that I love so much,’ Working with them was this part of my artist journey that helped me discover my sound, discover who I am as a complete artist,” Weber says. “Now, getting to release that music into the world feels like this really cool time of fully introducing my complete self to people.”
That new creative start is exactly the mindset behind Weber’s latest track. The music industry is tough, Weber says, with ups and downs regardless of the specific path or goal.
One such experience for the emerging artist was time spent working with Capitol Records. Now, no longer with the label, Weber says dealing with the questions both internally and externally and reaching the other side is a reality to celebrate and the grounding point for the rest of the album.
“That feeling of realizing the little things that used to stress me out, now it’s like ‘why did I put energy into that when I can just focus on all of the amazing blessings that I have in my life?’ That’s what getting through what I went through taught me,” Weber explains. “I can let go of the little petty things and I can just focus on the big picture and on the blessings.”
Feels Like Heaven is meant to be a fun reminder of the excitement that comes with making music you love, Weber emphasizes.
“I want to have fun in this industry,” Weber says. “I want it to feel exciting and creative and not get bogged down by the side of it that stresses me out.”
A major part of the creative process that keeps it fun for the writer is finding interesting ways to include sonic aspects of all her influences – from gospel and choral sounds to R&B underlays and voice sampling.
“How do I make this music sound the best that I can and how can this rollout be as fun and creative as possible?” Weber asks herself. “How can we make a music video that just lights everybody’s creativity up and keeps the joy alive? – that’s the goal with this rollout and with the project itself.”
“The whole album is about finding myself and coming back to this place of being in a space where I feel joy and self-love and growth from what has been a kind of tumultuous journey up to this point,” Weber continues.
Coming off such a hopeful release, Weber notes she’s looking forward to sharing her voice and her story with listeners in live settings and the rest of the record to come.
