By exploring more genres and drawing from external inspiration, Gray opened ears to what modern music can be. 

By, Sarah Tomlinson 

Vancouver Indie-Pop artist Lila Gray is breaking down music barriers with her new eclectic multi-genre album Not What I Was Promised. 

Born and raised in the mountains of B.C, Gray’s new album is a collection of songs, demos and even voice notes capturing the melodramatic emotions of a 21st-century teen. Although her strikingly breathy vocal tone and heartfelt lyrics remain consistent, each song takes the listener through a different musical realm, whether it be indie, country or even hints of reggae. While listeners might expect each song to be based on personal experience, Gray surprisingly draws from external sources like books she reads in her personal writing projects. 

Her musical journey began at the age of five when she started her classical training through the cello. She grew up listening to influential classics such as The Beatles, James Brown, Queen, and The Kinks, while constantly finding new artists from which to draw inspiration (Scott Helman, Lorde, Billie Eilish, Vance Joy, Bleachers, and Feist). Since then, the artist has picked up singing, songwriting, guitar and managed to find her unique indie-pop sound. 

From acoustic ballads to synthy disco jams, Gray’s goal is to open eyes and ears to what modern music can be. 

CanCulture got the inside scoop on Gray’s new album and here is what she had to say. 

When did you start working on the album? How long did it take you? 

It was a pretty long timeline! A couple of the tracks are from close to four years old now, though I didn’t know at the time that I wrote them that they would end up on this album. I suppose the initial planning for this album started around four years ago! There were many different drafts of this album before I settled on the version that is out today. The whole process of writing and then initial tracklisting for Not What I Was Promised took roughly a year and a half or so.

What was the initial concept for the album? Did it change as you were making it? How does it differ from your previous releases? 

I initially wanted to do a fairly pop-heavy album, but as I began to decide which songs belonged on the album and meshed the nicest together, that changed a little bit. I think there were three different versions of the album before the final cut and tracklist were decided upon. The finished album is still pretty pop-centred, but over quarantine, I wrote a fair amount of music that is inspired more by folk and reggae than pop. I knew I wanted to include these different influences on the album and I think that is what drove it to change from the initial concept. This is my first full-length record, so I felt I was able to portray more of a progression of a continued story than with my previous releases.

The artwork for your album is a portrait of you. Can you talk about the meaning of the artwork to you? Why black and white? How does it relate to the music? 

Because of lockdown, I felt fairly limited as to what I could do for the artwork of the album. One of my close friends is a very talented artist and the idea to have her create the artwork came to me just as the final draft of the record fell into place. Having her do the artwork seemed to fill in what I felt was missing from this project. I wanted the artwork to have melancholic undertones and I felt by pulling all the colour out, it achieved that.

What’s your favourite track off your album? Why? 

Hard to say for sure, but I would probably say “Normal People”. It is arguably the most experimental track off the record and I truly enjoy playing with random stuff in the studio, I think that’s often where you can get the best result. I also really love writing songs from characters’ points of view, and I so enjoyed reading and watching the Normal People book and series that when I finished this track, I felt I had to put it out.

“Normal People” is very eerie musically and lyrically. What’s the story behind that song? How is it complemented by sounds and instruments? 

I wrote it after reading and watching Sally Rooney’s book and series with the same name. I laid it out like a conversation that should have happened between the two lead characters. I mostly used vocals to portray the story. At one point, we added a vocal doubler pitched down to sound like a second voice, which I loved because it felt like uniting the characters for a moment. We also added echo vocals in the bridge to have it sound like one of them is calling for the other.

“Outrun the Rain” is more acoustic. What’s the story behind that song? 

I wrote that song for my closest friend. We’ve been in each other’s lives for almost 14 years now. I wanted to write her a song that reflected how much she means to me, and how much I value having her in my life.

 “Glory” gives off bedroom pop vibes and sticks out from your other songs. Is that a genre you’re interested in exploring more? Why did that musical style fit the vibe for the meaning of “Glory”? 

That’s cool to hear it perceived that way! “Glory” and “You Hold My Love New York!” are the two tracks that I feel have the most reggae influence. I would definitely love to experiment with pushing the limits of genre, and play around with some that are out of my current comfort zone. I wrote “Glory” about navigating growing up with a homie who’s going through the same shit you are. The friend that I wrote about is super easy going and whenever we are together, I feel super laid back.I wanted to create a track that reflected and captured that easy going feeling.

“Comfortable” is the grooviest one of them all. How did you go about making that song, form lyrics to music? 

I wrote that song in about 20 minutes. The line “threw away what I wanted cause I wanted it all to be true” had been sitting in the notes on my phone for weeks and I had kept trying to make it work, but nothing seemed to fit all that well. It was that I stopped trying to force it into other songs and waited till it felt like it was the right fit. I think it was really the lack of effort that made it work, the song basically wrote itself in those 20 minutes.

“Nevermind” has many musical layers [layers of sounds] to it. Can you talk about how they all intertwine?

I wanted “Nevermind” to have an overall gritty feeling, and I think by blending such random and somewhat unsettling sounds with eerie instruments, we were able to accomplish that.

What can fans expect from you in 2021? 

I’m sure this year is going to be just as unpredictable as 2020 was so I can’t say anything for certain! However, I’d love to do some live stream shows, and when everyone is vaccinated and healthy, get back to doing regular live shows and potentially a tour.

Stream Not What I Was Promised below: