Just where would I be without you?
Love’s sweet hand extends itself to all of us eventually, but it’s up to us to decide when and how that happens. On “Grace” Brooklyn artist Alarke celebrates the birth of something beautiful and the start of something new, embracing her love in all its glory.
All alone
Puzzle pieces
Never fit the way I think they should
Desperate plans
In the coldest hands
Doomed to always be misunderstood
Listen: “Grace” – Alarke
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Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Grace,” the latest single off Alarke’s forthcoming third album of original material, Grace. The artist name for Brooklyn’s Mary Alouette, Alarke combines gypsy jazz, electronic music, and classical composition forms and influences. She “facilitates cross-cultural dialogue through the language of music and new media and explores how collaboration can be synthesized out of disparate styles,” using her art to portray her “love for the stage and its larger-than-life representation of human experiences.”
The ‘gypsy jazz singer,’ as she’s been referred to by the Washington Post, takes a page out of Broadway on the evocative “Grace.” In the verse, she laments a dark past: “Once was lost, but now I see, love’s so sweet and it starts with me.” She sings softly, her voice full of lament as it’s supported by a lone, warm acoustic guitar.
The song expands in every way as Alarke transitions into the chorus:
Then grace
A flash of light reflecting in the glass
And I ask
Just where would I be without you?
Lilting instruments add further textures as Alarke opens herself up, facing the present with an appreciative smile as she acknowledges the love that has sent her spirit soaring. She sings slowly, energy building as she methodically rises. “Just where would I be without you?” Her question is reminiscent of Brian Wilson’s musing on The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” “God only knows where I’d be without you.” It’s an ultimate form of appreciation, the submission of oneself to another’s, well, graces.
“I have explored various mediums and they are all me; I cannot identify with just one,” describes Alarke. “My purpose is to connect with and support other individuals who live within multiple communities, and hope that they may find belonging, too.” Following two releases under the name Mary Alouette, The Lark (2013) and Midas (2012), Grace will be the first album under her new moniker, an ambitious musical project that defies traditional boundaries and genre definition.
Smile, the light tears me wide open
Breathe into my willing heart
Clear my throat, shed illusion
A spark, a flash
An endless searching
For now, we have “Grace”: The latest offering from singer/songwriter Alarke is an out-of-body, euphoric experience. The artist’s voice soars to immeasurable heights as she empties herself, succumbing to the strength, warmth, and power of love. Stay tuned for more from this impassioned multidisciplinarian, and put your own dark past behind with Alarke’s “Grace.”
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cover: Alarke © Kyle Blair
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