Reviews
For Terra Infinita
Single of the Week at Road Records, Dublin: "Autumn Grieve is a Canadian born singer and onetime member of Belfast based outfit Resin. On this twenty minute four track mini album on the rusted rail label she has stripped everything back to its bare essentials and simply let her amazing voice shine through. She has worked with members of the Rachels in the past and you can hear some of their piano based sounds on the opening track Flown, you can also hear the sounds of the likes of Cat power, Lisa Gerrard and Marissa Nadler in there, simply put this is some of the most hauntingly beautiful folk you are likely to hear in quite a while, a real hidden treasure. Features Flown, The Balance and the Beauty, Today the Rain and The Borrowed Light of Memory, comes pressed on a limited edition 3 inch cdr and features a handmade card miniature gatefold sleeve - even the packaging is beautiful"
Road Records.
"Autumn Grieve returns with "Terra Infinita", a suite of four songs. This act is one of the lesser known ones looseley affiliated with the Deserted Village collective, with one set released previously. Her music is chamber pop music centred around such instruments as piano, saxophone, violin and clarinet. A sense of loss and longing runs through these melodic songs. The production on her releases is always notable with a widescreen sound and sencse of drama. Four songs simply isn't enough. The evocative mixture of All About Eve and Dead Can Dance is unique and we leave the music always before we want to. There is a folky simplicity that runs through the music, sometimes falling back to simple acoustic guitar and whistle. Music this beautiful isn't often found in the charts, but it's existance is to be celebrated here. It's a little musical charm, a delight that those who discover it will treasure."
Mark Coyle www.harvest-home.org.
"It would be impossible to describe Autumn's music without mentioning Kate Bush - though more from depth of feeling rather than a direct link. Her first release for bedroom-run label Rusted Rail feels deeply feminine, steeped in emotion, offering a unique take on the world of pastoral folk. Autumn's breathy vocals serve as another instrument within the layers of delicate guitar, and careful strings. The result is individuality in a genre that has become heavily loaded of late. Essential."
Rough Trade Digital.
"This four song EP highlights the powerful, gorgeous voice of Canadian Autumn Grieve, formerly of Irish band Resin. Her voice is at the center here, with a light folk and almost chamber pop backing, which makes especially good use of piano and violin. "Flown" and "The Balance and The Beauty" showcase confident, even defiant writing. Think Cat Power, but not PJ Harvey. Even in her definitive statements, Grieve leaves her arms open, with all the hope she can muster. On other tracks, particularly "Today The Rain" the mixture of ambient and folk inches close to the line of being fey, but is saved again by the vocals... She is bound to make noise on the folk scene, and deserves a wider audience for her music.
Mike Wood
Foxy Digitalis.
For Another Window
“Occupying gossamer space somewhere
between Shannon Wright and Cat Power – with near-folksy phrasing that could
pass for the soft-spoken younger sister of Sandy Denny – Autumn
Grieve’s impressive new EP ”Another Window”, was recorded with Christian
Frederickson of Quarterstick act the
Rachel’s. The introspective, placid short-player features cellist David
Cho of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra”…"Grieve had
stints with Belfast group Resin and the great Louisville art-rock amalgam the
Rachel's . Her recent debut EP "Another Window" -
a lushly lo-fi, evocative set of originals that fans of Shannon Wright and even
Jeff Buckley will warm up to.”.…"gentle,
intelligent folk music."
Bill Ellis, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN.
"A wondrous
debut single from the Memphis, TN singer/ songwriter, Autumn Grieve.
Melancholic folk but with a transcendent feeling of overwhelming beauty that
usually gets lost in some of the more passionate singer /songwriters these
days. Cat Power’s isolation mixed with Ida’s sense of melody mixed with a
little, just for good measure, Joni Mitchell spirit. These songs are sad but
make you feel good and make you feel inspired to still enjoy music like it
should be enjoyed. Recorded with and joined by Christian Frederickson and Jason
Noble of The Rachel’s, Shipping News & Rodan. Highly recommended !!!
“If you
have ever wondered whether music reflecting authentic human experience is
disappearing with tie-dyed tee-shirts and torn jeans, Autumn Grieve’s heartfelt
performance provided profound evidence to the contrary…Wispy vocals and
gentle guitar picking placed the focus squarely on the singer as she
overpowered restless chatter with melancholy beauty…By the end there was a
sense that I had not only witnessed a graceful yet powerful harmonious
portrayal of her personal and complex experiences, but that I had in fact
readily shared in them”.
Shelley Brown,
The Village Idiot, Memphis, TN.
“Another Window’s honest, bared expression proves thoroughly enveloping, and
Grieve’s voice is truly otherworldly”.
Jessica
Baldanzi, Bloomington Independent, Indiana.
“The opening
track “Sea Maiden’s Duaghter” begins with a drag of cello and sets the tone for the e.p.
as gentle, featherlight guitar threads through the song, complementing Grieve’s wisps of
vocals. It’s a pastoral feel which builds into a gentle apex of flowing strings, that draws the track beyond
its lulling introduction, but never beyond a point of total release. The second track
“Hold the Light” is more heavily structured, acoustic guitars being more forceful,
accompanied by a gentle mandolin that evokes a very 60’s era British folk feel, the
song benefiting from the alternating use of cello and viola in subsequent verses. The final track “Shine” floats gently and
benefits from raw recording techniques and the beautiful cello work
of David Cho. It’s a tone that’s intense and rich in texture. It’s
an interesting debut release that remains full of promise.”
James Rider Icarus, Ireland. "A collaboration with members of Rachel’s, this e.p. marries their restrained
neo-classicism with Autumn’s shrouded folk melancholy. In common with certain other
travelers on the margins, these songs are more reminiscent of Sandy Denny-era English
folk than anything ‘contemporary’. All the better for it too as “Hold the Light” follows
an almost mediaeval logic, strings gathering, rising and falling like the wind around
her voice. “Shine” is majestic, all subdued drums, spiraling guitar and sad piano.
My favourite, however, is “Sea Maidens Daughter”. At times, the plaintive quality
of her voice can be too vapourous but on this track the broken keening is both
troubled and hope-filled. Fans of the whole new folk ‘scene’ will warm to the
fireside melancholy of Autumn Grieve and fans of Rachel’s will certainly fall for it too. ” David Colohan Notes from the end of the
Underground, Ireland.