GRAY
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2012 | SELF
Music
Press
Toronto-based alt-pop singer GRAY is set to share a brand new video for her latest single "CRZY," and Exclaim! has got the exclusive premiere.
Bringing together her wide-ranging vocal talents (and a Masters degree in Opera Performance) with interesting instrumental arrangements, GRAY has crafted a unique, dynamic and fun synth-pop sound for herself.
It's showcased on the dark pop offering "CRZY," which has now been paired with a set of fresh black-and-white visuals. The DIY clip was shot by the singer using a selfie stick and an iPhone 4, and you can get up close and personal with her by watching the clip below. - Exclaim!
The Toronto electronic artist debuts a new track that sounds like a mad scientist crossbred Skinny Puppy with CHVRCHES.
Toronto synth-rocker GRAY has a EP coming next month, but until then, fans of left-field electronic pop can keep themselves content with first single “CRZY,” which we’re premiering below.
Lately, GRAY’s alt-rock leanings have been taking a backseat to the more synth-heavy direction of her latest tracks: songs like “CRZY” combine her impressive vocal range with dynamic, electronic arrangements that exist somewhere between edgy and straight-up fun. Switching between its soaring pop-styled chorus and more subdued verses, “CRZY” makes full use of GRAY’s Masters degree in Opera Performance, and ends up sounding like a mad scientist crossbred Skinny Puppy with CHVRCHES. - AUX.TV
Toronto-based alt pop artist, GRAY, spent some time in Los Angeles writing new music and we’ve got the radio premiere of it tonight on the Drop! Gray was our 2014 Edge Next Big Thing finalist. - 102.1 The Edge
"The hot summer weather had returned to Toronto just in time for Edgefest 3, warming the sand that makes TD Echo Beach such a great venue for a summer festival. While happy toes reveled in the freedom of sinking into sand, a cool breeze from the lake provided relief from the August sun, resulting in perfect conditions for the third installment of this year’s Edgefest."
"One of last year’s finalists at The Edge’s Next Big Thing, Gray and her band braved the heat and brought upbeat and infectious tunes to eager music lovers: “Our songs just got fried, so we’re going to have to do this organically,” which elicited cheers from the growing crowd." - Citizen Edge
Toronto singer GRAY has that soul soaked boozey-prose I so often fall in love with, though she’s seasoned it off with a little bit of a pop rock that’s lighter, daintier, like those alcoholic little chocolates you’d sneak when you were a kid. Maybe. Her first single “Oh No” is her most supped up offering yet, with the rest being a little shier, suggesting this is a singer who is truly beginning to find herself. She doesn’t have much music available online, but the fact that she’s been working with producer Derek Downham of the Beauties is telling in and of itself. It will be interesting to see what GRAY offers at her Indie Week performance. I have a feeling the confidence and crunch of “Oh No” is just her jumping point.
Sheena Lyonnais - Toronto Music Scene - TorontoMusicScene.ca
Discography
Rewind EP 2014
Six Trax EP 2009
Photos
Bio
Easy categorization of a genre-flipping artist like GRAY is difficult.
By the time she appeared as a finalist in the 2014 Edge 102.1 (Toronto) Next Big Thing competition, she had already left the indie-pop of her 2013 REWIND debut ep at the door. Performing at 2015’s Edgefest – the only artist appearing without representation of any kind, alongside stylistic contemporaries like Mother Mother and Kongos - her newer, more synth heavy songs were emotional weapons. REWIND only hinted at the potential of an artist in possession of a Masters in Opera Performance. No sooner had readers nominated GRAY runner-up in Now Magazine’s 2015 Reader’s Choice Poll as Best New Act, than GRAY decamped to Los Angeles to write and gig. Toronto probably needed a break from so much swagger. GRAY had already made the rounds of showcase gigs at CMW, NXNE and Indie Week. When Edge on-air personality Adam Ricard intro’d GRAY with the declaration “Brody Dalle look out! There’s a young lady coming for coolest chick in rock’n’roll…” it was a legit warning. A song like ‘CRZY’ from the current batch of songs introduces itself like an overheard conversation before it suddenly becomes a dynamic, soaring, pop anthem. ‘LIGHTS’ is an inventive leap forward from there, establishing itself as the new standard, but left alone long enough with a guitar, a piano, her thoughts… GRAY is likely to eclipse her own benchmark by the time you finish reading this.
"GRAY has the ability to dig deep in her lyrics. And that voice – so strong, powerful and true. When she applies that voice to her own lyrics, watch out!" - Shelagh Rogers (CBC)
"GRAY has that soul soaked, boozey-prose I so often fall in love with" -Sheena Lyonnais (Toronto Music Scene)
Band Members
Links
