“One Foot in Front of the Other”, an amazing and fresh take on pop by Griff
9/10
an amazing and fresh album from a stunning young creative
Today, British artist Griff, or Sarah Griffiths, released her new mixtape One Foot in Front of the Other. Griff is known for her eclectic fashion and an amazing performance at the BRITs earlier this year, and has now made some of the most groundbreaking music of the year. She grew up in a small British town, her father Jamaican and her mother Chinese, surrounded by predominantly white families and a very quiet life. Young Sarah was gifted an iPod that contained the album, Fearless, by Taylor Swift, who remained one of her prominent inspirations as a musician. This video of her and Maise Peters show their love for Swift as well as her ease and comfort with recording and producing music, and experimenting with different sounds with little hesitancy. Swifts sonic influence can also be heard on a track like “Shades of Yellow”, while Lorde’s track Royals directly inspired “Heart of Gold”, another amazing track off the album. Enough about Griffs inspirations though, as she stands strong with her own unique sound and style.
The whole EP is stellar, with the majority of it being self produced by Griff. Not only does Griff hold a strong talent for her production, her voice is also unique, providing emotion and vulnerability to her well written lyrics. There is not one weak song on the EP. The melodramatic lyrics of the powerful and upbeat “Black Hole” is a great opener to the album. My favourite track on the mixtape, “One Foot in Front of the Other” contains amazing instrumentation and is a positive outlook on the process of healing after trauma, whether its a breakup, mental health issue, Griff is able to make an album and songs so personal yet so relatable, a skill few pop musicians hold nowadays. Griff is also careful to not overproduce her songs, playing them back on her acoustic guitar to ensure they stand well on their own, the production is only here to enhance her vision, never to deter it. The production and instrumentation throughout the album is cohesive, warm, and synthy. It is quite amazing that the majority of them were self produced.
Yeah, you said you’re scared of getting cancer
So you drink Earl Grey tea ’cause you heard that’s the answer
Griffs lyrics are dark, yet playful. This is reflected in the sound and production of the album as well.
Though many of the themes on the album are dark, a song about escape from a tumultuous family life on “Shades of Yellow” and the fear of dying, specifically, getting cancer on “Earl Grey Tea”, Griff remains positive and optimistic in sound, lyrics, and aesthetics. Anyone with anxiety can relate to “Remembering my Dreams”, the moment you get into bed after a busy day, and suddenly all your anxieties and worries rush back to you that you were distracted from earlier. The EP ends on a bright vibe, with “Walk”, a happy love song that could be directed toward a friend or lover. In only 7 songs, Griff has proved herself as an amazing artist, songwriter, vocalist, and producer.
Not only that, but she is also quite amazing at sewing and fashion. The beautiful blue dress that Griff wore to the BRITS award? That was designed and constructed by her a week or less before the show. It is obvious that Griff is an individual bursting out the seem with creativity and self expression, and I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next.
standout tracks : shades of yellow // one foot in front of the other // remembering my dreams
