MONI GRACE EXPLORES HEALING IN NEW EP

Boston DIY artist Moni Grace, real name Monica Whitlock, discusses healing and exploring sexuality on her new EP Expiration Date: Part 1 Clara. The EP is three songs so it wastes no time getting to the point. 

Her brand of unapologetic emo/pop punk as a biracial, queer woman feels like a breath of fresh air. The EP opens with “Clara” which is a love letter to a woman. With lyrics like

“For what it’s worth, I said I love you first in the middle of the unsaid promise…”

it's a catchy song and Moni Grace hits some incredible notes in the middle as it slows down before the guitars and drums pick back up. 

The second on the EP is titled “Paige, From Eight Years Ago”, which sounds like a total opposite of the feelings from the first track, as the song is much more somber. She discusses the things she misses about a person who it sounds like has been removed from her life in some way or another. The repeated lines of

“Don't make my lonely, your broken and don’t leave me high in the moment”

matches the sadness in her voice. 

The final track on the album is titled “Marilyn Monroe”. The song starts with a quote from Marilyn Monroe herself. She’s talking about emotions and doing scenes truthfully.  Of the song, Grace says,

“I wrote Marilyn Monroe in an effort to not reach out to people who have left my life. Instead, I wrote this song. I think that analogy can be used for a lot of things in my life, such as writing / creation is the basis for creation. The urge to inflict pain onto myself, in attempt to punish my body for years of not talking about my abuse, much like the urge to draft a suicide note has turned, in recent years, into the urge to write a poem.”

 This song shows turning bad thoughts and suicidal ideation into ways to grow and art that expresses the pain. 

Moni Grace is definitely an artist to watch and one that I will be paying attention to. You can listen to her new EP Expiration Date: Part 1 Clara now!