LaGracia present the second single off their Debut EP ‘No One’s Fool’, a collection of four songs written by musical duo/husband and wife, Gráinne McCarthy and Kevin Healy, making up LaGracia. ‘No One’s Fool’ is a passion project in the works for over 4 years and they were finally able to finish it during lockdown despite the challenges posed by pandemic. “There were a lot of vocals that needed to be recorded, along with extra production and keys which we wanted, so we had to do most of it remotely, and going to the studio as often as possible,” says McCarthy, an established performer, credited with a number of Irish television appearances, such as The Late Late Show accompanying Lucia Evans and The Waterboys, as well as being a long standing member of Danny G & the Major 7ths.
These heartfelt and soulful songs are an honest insight into episodes from a tumultuous time in the lives of McCarthy and Healy. ‘Can’t Ever Know’, follows a similar theme to ‘Say’, with more of a focus on feeling misunderstood and separating from those who are toxic.
LaGracia are a popular band on the Dublin and West of Ireland circuit. Hailing from Sligo and Roscommon: with Gráinne on vocals, Kevin and Tom on guitars, and Dublin: Dennis Cassidy on beats and Gar Frequency on bass and production. For the purpose of the EP, they recruited Jesse Chandler (Midlake, BNQT), who recorded additional keys remotely last year from Texas.
Their sound has been described as nostalgic, reminiscent of the 90’s R&B era of En Vogue, TLC and Lauryn Hill, while lead singer-songwriter McCarthy has a voice that evokes classic soul/ R&B singers like Etta James, Dusty Springfield and Roberta Flack. The overall sound is brave, passionate and soulful.
‘Can’t Ever Know’ is the follow up to “Say”, (released in April), from their Debut EP. It is thematically similar to ‘Say’ in that it was from the same period of time where McCarthy, an established vocalist, realised that, “Some people will never fully understand who we are and what we are about both personally and artistically and that’s OK. You need to find your own tribe in order to excel.”
In contrast to ‘Say’, which has a more produced feel, in ‘Can’t Ever Know’ you can really hear a more live band sound from LaGracia. The Latin influenced acoustic guitar and percussion immediately set the tone for the song which is reminiscent of Santana and Lauryn Hill’s collaborations.
It has a throwback feel with 90’s inspired vocals prominent on the chorus and in the outro. The song evolves and peaks with a striking finish of layered a cappella vocals from McCarthy. She states that she is constantly evolving her songs and trying new harmonies and BV’s, and explains, “One of the backing vocals that appears in the outro came to me on the last day of recording vocals and now it’s my favourite part of the song. It really adds emotion to the ending.”
