Episode 10: Delyn Grey: Thought Provoking and Emotive Alt Rock That Shakes You To the Core
Today on the podcast we are featuring the Toronto-based artist Delyn Grey. Grey makes thought provoking and emotive alt rock that shakes you to the core. Learn more about Delyn and listen to her song “Ghost Town.”
Show Notes and Full Show Transcript
Just popping in to give you guys a heads up. This podcast contains paid promotional content. That means we were compensated for the feature. All opinions are our own and we only choose to represent music that we truly dig. Now on with the show.
Hey everyone welcome to the Eat Sleep Breathe Music podcast. I’m your host Jeanette Kimszal. Today I’m talking about the Toronto based artist Delyn Grey.
If you haven’t heard of Delyn she is definitely someone who should be on your radar especially if you are a fan of like powerful piano ballads. Very intense thoughtful music.
Grey not only has beautiful vocals but she is also very talented when it comes to musical instruments. She has been playing the piano since she was a child. She also was self-taught on the guitar.
Music was always a part of her life growing up. She had been surrounded by music. Her father was a musician and her parents always played music in the house.
She was raised on a musical diet of things like Elvis and The Beatles and Elton John and Bowie. Then she had actually Winehouse. Amy Winehouse who she really found a kindred spirit with and that was one of the main musical influences for her.
The thing that Grey liked about Winehouse was that she was singing so effortlessly and she said she “kicked ass” and she didn’t have to be pristine pop princess to succeed and that was something that really stuck with her.
You can hear the influences in her piano melodies. The thing I like about Grey is that she is really real as an artist. She takes a lot of the pain and things that she is dealing with in her own life and put them to paper and melody. It’s really inspiring becuase it is probably very helpful for a lot of people who are going through the same thing.
Grey has been working on her upcoming EP called Disappointment Girl and she’s had a couple singles that she put out.
The first one was called “Battle.” That was a really great song. It was gritty in your face track about depression. It was a lovely track. It was very honest.
It’s one of those songs that will definately leave a lasting impression with you. You know, it was very emotional and it’s also because it was very real.
Delyn herself has battled with depression and in this track, she was being honest and hashing out her own vulnerability with having the disease. She is really speaking to people and touching them. It’s great for someone who is listening on the other end to say, “hey, I understand what you’re dealing with.”
If she’s getting through this battle then there’s hope for me winning as well. It’s a nice real experience of music and it’s also very hopeful. It’s nice that she’s putting out a positive message that can help a lot of people.
If you want to check out “Battles” I can leave a link to that track in the show notes (check it out here). It’s not the one that I’m featuring here but I just wanted to mention it becuase it was the first single that I had heard of hers. I really did enjoy it. I just wanted to bring it up as another track to listen to.
Today I’m talking mostly about “Ghost Town” which is a newer song from her.
Just going back to the song “Battle” for a minute. I wanted to make a note that she has been getting a lot of accolades for her music and a lot of praise from different outlets.
Life Beyond the Music called it a “beautiful ode to hope in the light of dark” (https://lifebeyondthemusic.com/toronto-independent-musicians-delyn-grey-release-new-single-battle/).
The website Art Publika Mag said that she “captured the feeling of powerlessness that often stems from the illness, but she did it with intention, boldness, and unapologetic rawness” (https://www.artpublikamag.com/post/2020/02/12/album-review-battle-single-by-delyn-grey)
There were a lot more features but I didn’t go through all of them. I can leave links to those in the show notes if you want to check them out at well.
I wanted to switch gears now and talk a little bit more about “Ghost Town” the song I will be playing in a little bit.
So this track was inspired by the pandemic. As you know a lot of musicians right now are playing a lot of music and writing a lot of music. They are being very creative.
This song in particular, “Ghost Town” is talking about how to get through these desperate times. We’re watching everything and we’re seeing individuals in towns, cities, and countries.
Everyone is just so harshly impacted by what is happening and the unknown. It’s really like there’s this storm raging and we’re just waiting to see when this is gonna settle.
Her whole thought is that we should be really supporting each other and embracing the opportunity to learn, to heal, to seek answers. Delyn Grey says talking about being kind to your neighbors. Being sensible, being prudent, being hopeful.
Even though the themes in it are kind of dark, it has has that uplifting feel and the piano keys really emphasize that.
There’s very strong piano that opens this and has this, not so much as a jarring sound but kind of like a repetitive and the music just takes you in and you feel it. And you’re wrapped up in it. It’s just such an emotional experience that I really enjoyed listening to this track.
Even just the first couple notes you’re like “wow” this is very powerful. This is very strong. This is a really cool track.
The song was only written she said in about 2 days into the quarantine. I think having this feeling of helplessness, shock, and disbelief.
She has said it became suffocating to her. She said it was kind of funny because it was the only “uplifting” and “unifying” song she had written.
She was seeing the world in turmoil. She felt that is really should NOT and could not be ignored. It was nice message of hope to hear.
I would also assume that this track was a cathartic experience for her in making it. She was holded up in the pandemic and in quarantine and she probably had a lot of things going through her mind.
It’s a nice way to have a release of all this emotional tension and all this negative energy. I’m sure it was helpful to get all of this out of her head. She is also doing a service by putting this out there and showing how we all can work together and really help one another.
She was bringing to light the seriousness of this issue. How we can come together as a society to help each other heal.
So as you can see not only is the music very powerful, but the lyrics are very powerful and the message is very powerful. It has a lot of energy and it’s something I really enjoyed.
Delyn has been compared to aritists Lorde, K.Flay, Adele, PJ Harvey, Evanescence, Adele, Tori Amos and Poe. So if you’re into any of those artists Delyn is somone that you should definately check out as well.
And now you can actually listen to hear for yourself if you are digging this track as much as I am.
So without further ado here is “Ghost Town” by Delyn Grey.
Play Track
There you have the track “Ghost Town.” Let us know what you think about the song.
Click the link in the description to leave us an audio comment. Or post a comment on our website.
If you’re interested in learning more about Delyn and want to hear more of her music you can check out her official website at http://delyngreyofficial.com. She is also on social media channels as @delyngrey on Instagram, iamdelyngrey on Twitter, and @itsdelyn on Facebook.
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