Catharsis Takes Form on Grace Weber's Debut Album 'A Beautiful Space'
Photo: Daniel Alfredo Kestenbaum
If you're a diehard music fan who likes to keep their ear to the ground, then it's likely you've heard of Grace Weber. Though she's been recognized by outlets like Billboard and UPROXX, Weber has spent most of her career out of the spotlight. The LA-based singer-songwriter has worked with artists like Francis & The Lights, Vic Mensa, and Chance the Rapper, even winning herself a grammy for her work on Coloring Book in 2016.
With an impressive handful of projects under her belt, this week sees Weber taking to music's main stage with the release of her debut commercial record A Beautiful Space. Featuring production from The Social Experiment and Weber's signature dulcet tones, 2021 is certainly shaping up to be her year.
If you've been struggling through the great R&B drought of 2021, Weber is here to serve you some much needed positive energy. Her voice is unlike any other, a consistent balancing act between soft harmonies and powerful melodies that turn every track into a memorable moment. It doesn't hurt that The Social Experiment is all over this thing either, with many songs sounding borderline hymnal with their clever usage of strings, choirs, and signature SoX horn performances.
Earlier this year fans were treated to jazzy chord progressions and thoughtfully-tuned compositions on singles "Feels Like Heaven" and the Chance The Rapper-assisted "Thru The Fire," but A Beautiful Space is full of tracks that offer a little bit for fans of both modern and classic R&B. Album cuts like "Waters Edge" and the Nico Segal-assisted "Other Side" are refreshingly forward-thinking yet still seasoned with a dash of saccharine sentimentality.
Over the course of the record's 12 tracks, A Beautiful Space manages to continuously be just that. After multiple listens I am still uncovering subtle details I missed during my first few plays, like dissecting the intricate percussion on "Coming Home" and someone softly speaking in the background during the downtempo cut "Happy Thoughts." In the wake of the past year we've been subjected to, the importance of records like these - ones that are bursting at the seams with love and light even during their thematic nadir - cannot be understated.
Listen to A Beautiful Space below:
