Star

---

Gracey: 'Sometimes it is important to shampoo and condition your brain. '

Pop singer Gracey always had a croak in her Voice - a striking, leonine quality, brought You Songs of Heartbreak and Unrequited Love to living life.

But then something went wrong.

This Time Last Year , she was writing in Los Angeles , music when the larynx is closed.

"I didn't speak the whole trip, unless I was in a Songwriting session, and I had still lost My Voice ," says the 22-year-old.

"I remember as I with my manager, at Breakfast, and nothing You could say could make it better. And I cried my eyes Out because I was like, 'I'm gonna have to get your surgery. '"

The Brighton-born singer, whose full name is Grace Barker, was quickly diagnosed with vocal nodules - Small , hard growths on the vocal cords and went under The Surgeon 's knife.

For The Next two months, she was forbidden to speak and sing. For a natural chatterbox, it was a highly unpleasant experience.

"I mean, I was such a mess," she says. "I'm someone who would just talk for Days - But imagine if You at the table and all of the jokes, and You can't join because You are trying to write a joke on your whiteboard, And Then You 're dyslexic, so no one can read it.

"So, I think I was just freaking Out . I wasn't me for these months at all. "

with a weight on your head is the fact that only a few weeks before surgery, had Gracey, released her debut Single Different things. Instead of resorting to the "buzz", she was now could take care of in the house of their parents, " says My Mother , me in My Childhood bedroom."

fortunately, the only actions speak for You .

A delicious misery-Pop ballad, it's the same water as Imogen Heap 's delivers - with Gracey's Voice , fed up to emphasize through a vocoder, the growing distance between her and her beloved.

"We want different things," sighs The Singer . "I just wanted To Love You , But You made it [expletive]. "

warning: This song contains Explicit Language .

Published last March, The Song landed on several end-of-year Lists - not bad for a song that initially dashed off as a demo for Little Mix .

"they were looking for Songs , so we wrote it as a pitch, and it started quite upbeat," recalls Gracey.

"the I of the choir have written very quickly and sometimes, just to check that texts match, You slow it down and sing it on a piano. So we did, and immediately The Vibe changed.

"then the texts poured just kind of Out of me - Everything I had said to myself came Out in years and years, even. "

'Smart in a different Way ,'

Based on one of her first teenage relationship ("I didn't really know what I wanted"), The Song was, apparently, to give personal and downbeat, to, the UK's premier Girl Band , so Gracey gave it again for yourself.

the release last March and met-a goal that appeared originally at the Age Of seven, when she wrote a song called Pinky fingers.

"One of my best friends still laughs recite," You . "It's 'Pinky finger with a cherry on top / Smile together and never, never Stop . '" (The Melody , to be fair, would not sound Out of place on an S Club 7 Single ).

The Singer has been involved in The Hit -production house Xenomania as a teenager

at The Time , the Grace family living in Haywards Heath , "a standard Small town in The South , and while her two older brothers, both the academic, she was "intelligent in a different Way - in The Words of My Mother ".

It wasn't until she turned 16 that she learned she was dyslexic. Until then, she had accepted, their inability to finish tests was due to a lack of preparation. But in some ways, she says, the condition, the make, and their musical abilities.

"I think, strangely enough, it pushed me to be more creative to do because I had things in different ways. Like, if I was to read books when I was younger, I would just Make Up The Story from the pictures. "

Although she is an Idol Gwen Stefani and Katy Perry , You could not imagine, to study how to be a Popstar - so if You won a place in London the prestigious Brit School, she decided, musical theatre, rather than Popular Music .

"I just thought that music was ever an option," she says, "But also, I did not like the idea, done with music, because the music is not my thing. "

So, while she was cast as a sequence of "drunk Old Women " in the school productions, she was secretly demo-ing Pop Songs in your phone in The Bathroom At Home .

"I don't have enough memory for a full song," she recalls, "so I would upload little clips, and half of the Songs on Soundcloud . "

With that, she was discovered by songwriter Brian Higgins (Cher, Pet Shop Boys, Girls Aloud ), You are invited, with his team of authors at The Time of The Hit production house Xenomania, at the Age Of 16 years.

The Singer received a platinum CD for her work in Jonas's blue is From your site

"in fact, I first auditioned for a Girl Band ," she says, "But I decided I didn't want to do, so I said," I'll be happy to come as a writer. '

"I don't have any texts, because I believe that You trusted a dyslexic 16-year-old, was doing their GCSEs to the Lyrics - But it has hone me to really have a Good Time in my melodies. Even now, I find I'm so much faster on melodies than Anything Else . I have learned a lot. "

she came so good that Gracey writer-for-hire, with their first professionally recorded song, Jonas is Blue, go platinum. Later a hit for Rita Ora , Raye, and Olly Murs is the author of Various things, opened a new Chapter.

Which brings us Back To those two months of forced silence.

', Pretending to be happy

"I was in a bad place," reflects The Singer . "I was like, 'I just can't have a career like this. '"

her team was worried, not about Gracey's Voice , for which the forecast was good, But on the kill, the dynamics of Different things.

It was printing, allows You to post about your Operation on Social Media .

"You answered so well and so quietly, But they were very much like," should You can share. We can not publish about two to three months break without music,'" she recalls.

"were You in a panic, basically, and as much as I could understand that the panic, I was just scared that I will never be able to sing again.

"So I was like, 'I must look after my Mental Health instead of preference, I am happy in the Social Media . '"

The scenario inspired poetry in Gracey ' s new song, Empty love. "Can You Stop asking me to Smile , please?" she pleads over a sparse digital beat. "Gotta have The Time of our life all The Time , don't You ?"

warning: This song contains Explicit Language .

A duet with the Australian Pop Star -Ruel, The Song deals more with the dangers of the performative luck on Social Media .

There is a theme, Gracey with struggles: it recognizes that only the publication on its good Days , builds a False Impression , But it is instinctively wary of over-sharing.

"I hate pity, so it is a two-edged sword," she says. "I feel like a Drama Queen when I say that I have a bad day on Twitter and all of these beautiful people the message," no, You 're great. You are loved".

"I'm just like, 'Oh, no, no, no, I'm not trying to make You compliment me!'

"But I think sometimes it is imperative to, You know, shampoo and condition your brain. "

Even so, music is the most important sales market for Gracey emotions forever.

"whenever I've been through a break-up in The Past , I will only speak with My Friends about it so many times how I don't think that I annoy You ," she says. "So I kind of push Everything down And Then when I'm in the studio, it just comes Out , which I think is why a lot of My Songs are sad. "

Two of the Songs Alone In My room (Way ) and do not have To self-love (Swipe left, Wipe Right) - have proved both gone viral TikTok, that Gracey must not help writing long confessional house-posts on Instagram, the fans can't recognize that You are not Alone with your feelings.

But she realizes that people play to repeat these Songs , in tears, while they pore over photos of your ex?

"Yes, and You know what? I feel kind of bad about it," she laughs.

Empty Love Is Out now.

follow us on or on Twitter. If You have A Story , suggestion E-Mail.

little mix, mental health, music, social media

Source of news: bbc.com