With new single She Looked Like Me, Ella Grace is striving to make women feel seen and cherished ✨
BY SOPHIE GRIFFITHS
Happy International Women’s Day! There’s no better day than today to blast some incredible tunes by the women who are leading the way in music. Here at DIVA, we’ll be blasting the new track from Ella Grace, She Looked Like Me, all day long.
A track born from the unspoken, and sometimes overlooked female bond, this is Ella’s way of furthering her dedication to empowering women.
For the last eight years, Ella has been fostering a community of hundreds-of-thousands of women both online and offline through podcast series, retreats and courses. These safe spaces of exploration, expression, growth and taboo-breaking conversation translate into her music and more recently the launch of her own record label ONEONEONE which will see the release of her debut album Reverence 19 April.
Check out the stunning new track and read all about how Ella Grace will be celebrating International Women’s Day 2021 below. 🌹
DIVA: Tell us a bit about your new single She Looked Like Me. What inspired it?
Ella Grace: She Looked Like Me is a love song to all the courageous women out there, myself included, who have risen through adversity. I wrote this song to acknowledge a shared thread of struggle that weaves it’s way through the lives of women everywhere that we use to create tapestries of power and hope.
How will you be celebrating International Women’s Day this year?
I will be loving on myself; sending myself flowers, a biiiiig bubble bath, good music and food. In a society that profits from your self-doubt, loving yourself can be an act of rebellion. And of course, releasing this new tune for women everywhere!
How have you found entering the music industry as a queer woman?
There are so many amazing queer icons in the music industry, past and present and I find it to be a pretty inspiring place to be as a queer woman in 2021. I’m excited to share the stories of queer love through my music, especially of women loving women as we need those stories to be told. Representation is such an important part of facilitating other peoples self-discovery.
What makes you feel visible as a queer woman?
Style has played a huge part in my self-discovery of queer identity, being able to express myself freely. The term queer for me personally opens the door for a huge amount of fluidity in expression and experience and I love using clothing to explore that. Clothing makes me feel visible.
What can we expect from your upcoming album?
Oh my gosh, so much wildness. This album is a queer, psychedelic love affair. Feminism, love stories, and self-discovery. I feel very in sync and connected with the 70s and all the sounds and musicians that came to life during that time period. There’s definitely a lot of sound references from that era.
How has discovering more about your sexuality informed your new music?
It’s been everything. My songs are very much diary entries for me, so my exploration of my sexuality informed so much of this album. My queerness was a late discovery for me and so I went to the studio off the back of it and I found this album just poured out of me. It’s a timestamp in my history.
Which female musicians make you feel empowered and inspired?
Joss Stone. Janis Joplin. Joni Mitchel. Bedouine.
How have you been supporting and uplifting women through your work so far in 2021?
I have started my own record label called OneOneOne Records with the intention of helping other women in the industry. I find the journey to following your passion in life to be one that is less accessible for women in this patriarchal system. It’s taken me a lot of “ReWilding”, as I like to call it, to step up and into my passion for music and allowing myself to be seen and heard. I know how lonely and scary that journey can be so I want to support other women in expressing themselves fully and navigating the industry with confidence. The Shawn Mendes Foundation just awarded myself and the label with a grant that will be used this year to help other women make their music!
Only reading DIVA online? You’re missing out. For more news, reviews and commentary, check out the latest issue. It’s pretty badass, if we do say so ourselves.
