Grace Ives

One Liner: Heavy synths but pop that is drawing me in
Wikipedia Genre: synth-pop, electronic
Home: NYC/Brooklyn

Poster Position: Late Addition
Day: Sunday
Second Weekend Only

SnapChat Stage at 3:30.

Thoughts:  I had no clue there was a Snapchat stage now.  I hate that app and what it has done to my girls.

As a teenager, she participated in the School of Rock program - maybe she'll take the stage with them at the Fest and help them melt our faces.  She started college at Maryland Institute College of Art to study graphic design before transferring to the State University of New York at Purchase and starting music-making in her dorm room.

As low key as this music seems to me, she is one of the openers for the Olivia Rodrigo tour in 2027, so she is doing something right!  All synth pop, definitely seems like she is starting with a basic Casio beat, and then layering more action on top to make the songs interesting.  Sort of feels like when Haim does their synth-driven tunes.  And then it can sound like Chappel Roan doing her sort of campy sound over synth riffs.

Her first EP was back in 2016, so unlike many of these folks she has been at it for a while.  After that, a 2019 album called 2nd, a 2022 album with the amazing name Janky Star, and then a 2026 disc called Girlfriend.  Her top track is on that 2022 album, called "Lullaby" and boasting 16.6 million streams over a jenky ass casio beat.

I actually like it.  Calling it a jenky casio beat sounds rude, but I kind of dig the groove in there.  Her second biggest streamer is from the initial EP, but I wanted to give you the new hit instead.  From the new album, this is "Stupid Bitches" with 2.3 million streams for now and more of a straight pop sound to me.

I like it when it kicks in a bit more for the chorus.  That is a good beat.  Even though my normal attitude towards a synth-pop girl would generally be skeptical, this one is winning me over.  I find myself bopping along to these tunes and then starting her top ten over again.  Who knew I was a synth pop girlie?