Artist: Grace McLean Album: My Lovely Enemy Genre: Alternative Rock, Alternative Pop Release Date: October 8th, 2024
Grace McLean’s “My Lovely Enemy” is an eerie, entrancing track that defies easy classification. It weaves together a mix of avant-garde pop, blending synths, strings, funky bass lines, and even New Orleans-style horns. The result is a song that constantly shifts and evolves, offering a fresh piece of ear candy every few seconds as it moves between sparse moments and full orchestral swells. This unpredictable soundscape keeps listeners on edge, never settling into one mood or feeling for too long while maintaining an upbeat, playful energy which serves as counterpoint to the chilling lyrics.
Inspired by a 12th-century poem from Hildegard von Bingen about martyrdom, McLean uses her voice—described by Rolling Stone as one of the most “suggestive” in North America—to explore themes of sacrifice and transformation. The song blurs the line between pain and celebration, as musical ideas tangle into a brightly colored collage. The hook, “Gimme gimme blood, gimme all the blood” embeds itself in the listeners head and adds an eerie sense of urgency, making the listener question where the line between love and destruction truly lies.
The music video amplifies this unsettling narrative, portraying McLean as a colonial-era housewife losing her grip on reality. The “lovely enemy,” a shadowy version of herself, has been courting her for a long time, walking beside her as she faces the inevitable. Separated from her lover, she longs for death as the only way to reunite. The visual of her bleeding head and slow surrender to death reflect the internal struggle of facing one’s darkest desires. In a chilling line, McLean’s character declares, “Life is dark, death is daybreak,” seeing death as a release from the pain of separation.
And as we watch her dead body dragged off to the bathtub by…herself, we can’t help but bob our heads along with that damn catchy bass line.
“My Lovely Enemy” addresses universal themes of inner conflict, loss, and the desire for reunion, leaving just enough room for interpretation for repeat listens. The song’s portrayal of self as both lover and enemy feels especially relevant. McLean’s avant-garde composition mirrors the chaos of modern life, where love, loss, and self-destruction often blur into one. This track isn’t just a song—it’s an experience, inviting listeners to confront the tension between light and dark, life and death, in a way that feels both timeless and deeply personal.
Grace McLean is a powerhouse. She comes across as a modern auteur. Her creative direction, musical ideas, vocal performance, and stylistic sensibilities come together to make something entirely gripping and unique. I’m upset it’s taken me this long to discover her.
Check them out on socials:
https://ecrmusicgroup.com/labels/meridian/grace-mclean/
https://www.facebook.com/thatgracemclean/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3r29KIdA9ZoETZ5Ix9x4jS?si=qb54qnPsReytiDvEmcvtjA
https://www.youtube.com/@gracemclean
https://www.instagram.com/thatgracemclean/
“My Lovely Enemy” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating DA DA DA - Best New MusicWe discovered this release via MusoSoup, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
