Melbourne-based singer, songwriter, producer and accomplished stage actor Grace Cummings will release her self-produced sophomore album entitled Storm Queen this week. Before Friday, Cummings shares a final taste of the forthcoming record. “Raglan” is an homage to the street where Cummings’ rides her bike to visit her friends. “Jesse Williams recorded this song in his tiny studio on Raglan Street on a freezing winter’s day. It was nice to all be crammed in there to play this live with everyone because it kept me so warm,” she explains. “This song really makes me smile, as a lot of memories came out of that place. So many parties ended at that studio with someone putting on Bob Dylan as the sun came up.”

True to its title, Storm Queen is a body of work with its own unruly climate, governed only by the visceral quality of Cummings’ spellbinding and devastating vocal presence, as heard on stage opening for the likes of Weyes Blood, Evan Dando, J Mascis and more. With most songs captured within the first few takes and featuring unexpected flourishes by Cummings’ peers in Melbourne, the album showcases a vast and volatile emotional landscape from one of the most captivating folk artists to enter the scene in years. Storm Queen will be released on January 14th on ATO Records, and follows Cummings’ understated debut album Refuge Cove,which was released in 2019 via King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s Flightless Records.

Photo Courtesy: Ian Laidlaw