Gretta Ray Positive Spin

Gretta Ray continues to develop her chops on this tight and varied second album, stocking her radiant pop with incisive, personal lyrics. Years after winning a global songwriting award as a teen, the Melbourne rising star follows her ARIA-nominated 2021 debut Begin to Look Around and internet-conquering 2022 cover of Billy Joel’s “Vienna” with memorable hooks and emotional beats working in tandem. Set to a bubbling synth melody, the opening title track rattles off the benefits of remaining optimistic, while lead single, “Heartbreak Baby”, keeps with that theme by turning a painful breakup into an empowering statement of selfhood: “I shine bright when you break me/I shine bright, that’s what makes me/A heartbreak baby”. Softer and more acoustic, “Dear Seventeen” sees Ray advise her younger self about writer’s block and her continued love for Taylor Swift. Conversely, she looks brightly ahead on the closing “America Forever”, singling out Laurel Canyon and her other favourite corners of LA backed by guests Maisie Peters and Carol Ades. Although Ray also fondly cites grabbing sushi on Smith Street in Melbourne’s trendy suburb of Collingwood on “Upgraded”, her songwriting here is strong enough to send her back to the States as often as she likes.