The singer has also shared a cover of Joni Mitchell's River.
Watch our interview with Gretta Ray!
Melbourne-based musician Gretta Ray has offered us all a Christmas gift, focusing in on It’s Almost Christmas In Philly, taken from the singers ARIA nominated debut album, Begin To Look Around. The musician has also shared a moving cover of Joni Mitchell's seminal standard, River, arriving alongside an official visual.
"Christmas is right around the corner, so I wanted to give a nod to the Christmas-themed song on my album, It’s Almost Christmas In Philly, by recording a stripped back rendition. It’s a song about driving through North America with my dear friend Sam while I was opening for Gang of Youths in 2018. It’s the most folky sounding song on Begin To Look Around, and with this version I wanted to hone in on that even more. Joni Mitchell has always been one of my biggest inspirations. With this cover of her song River, I wanted to acknowledge how much her song writing means to me. It was such a joy to put my own twist on this song." the singer says of the tracks.
Having toured as a member of Japanese Wallpaper's live band whilst in her final year of high school Ray went on to win the coveted Triple J Unearthed High, and the prestigious Vanda & Young Songwriting Award for her debut single, Drive. Since then, the musician has toured with the likes of Mumford & Sons, Gang of Youths, Lianne La Havas and James Bay, and taken to the stage at Falls Festival and Splendour in the Grass. Now with two EP's under her belt, Ray kicked into full gear with her debut album, Begin To Look Around.
Serving as an empowering coming-of-age tale, the pop-based record is curated collection of songs that capture the essence of Ray. Her superb lyricism takes centre stage across 15 tracks, as her vocals soar above captivating production. Produced by Robby De Sa (MAY-A, The Veronicas), Dylan Nash (Dean Lewis, Fergus James, Azure Ryder), Kyran Daniel (G-Flip) and mixed by Dan Grech-Marguerat (Halsey, Lana Del Ray, Troye Sivan) and Rich Cooper (Banks, The Temper Trap), Begin To Look Around brings together a treasure trove of world-class musicians, capped off with production from Gang of Youths and guest vocals from frontman David Le'aupepe. Ray also scored a nomination at the 2021 ARIA Awards in the Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist category for the album.
Watch the visual for River below!