Grace Conheady's voice makes 'Hello, Goodbye in Between' sing 

[
      {
        "name": "500x250 Ad",
        "insertPoint": "5",
        "component": "15667920",
        "parentWrapperClass": "",
        "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
      }
    ]

In 2019, local singer-songwriter Grace Conheady released her first solo EP, “Things You Misheard.” The album was characterized by intimate, acoustic tracks that provided small snapshots into Conheady’s life. On Jan. 7, she releases her debut full-length album, “Hello, Goodbye, in Between” — a seven-track collection that showcases Conheady’s talents as a writer, producer, and engineer.

As lead singer of The Recall — a jazz-pop group formed by classmates at the University of Rochester — Conheady performed with astounding range and profound vocal depth. And as you might expect, her singing voice drives “Hello, Goodbye, in Between.”

The album begins with “Blue Moon,” an ambient track filled with airy electric guitar parts and an ascending bass line that sounds reminiscent of some of Modest Mouse’s more contemplative songs. A small chorus of guitar lines builds and Conheady’s vocals enter the mix, as she repeatedly sings out the line, “Oh, meet me soon.”

Distant background vocals pepper the song’s backdrop, further highlighting the beauty of her voice.

The second track, “I Used to Know You,” begins with a stripped-down arrangement featuring acoustic guitar, allowing Conheady’s first-person storytelling to shine:

Asked you to slow down ’cause dinner is ready soon / But your hunger is too big for this meal / So you’ll swallow the rest of the sky / ’Til there’s nothing left but your lullaby.

As the song progresses and layered electric guitars and organ sounds swell, a well-placed group of horns comes in, adding a sense of catharsis, akin to indie rock groups such as Band of Horses.


“Tiniest Bird” features soft acoustic guitar parts with breathy, emotional vocals. While Conheady shares commonalities with vocalists like Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers, she carries a weight and depth that is entirely her own, as she sings:

God I was bluffing about a feeling that I had stomached long before / Tiniest bird, I’m not sure what to say — that the right time and the right you are infinities away.

“Mexico” is the longest song on the album, clocking in at nearly eight minutes. Natural sounds of birds and bugs chirping can be heard alongside sparse lines on the piano. On this final track, the personality in Conheady’s voice bursts through clearly, unobscured by vocal modulations or reverb.

“Hello, Goodbye, in Between” is a testament to the power of the “slow build,” featuring songs that begin with simple foundations and emerge as something profound, like a flower bursting from the ground after a spring thaw. As a whole, the album may be a sign that Conheady’s influence on the local singer-songwriter scene has only just begun to blossom.

Grace Conheady's recent performance at The Little Theatre Café with Beau Hanson can be found on YouTube.

Emmarae Stein is a freelance writer for CITY. Feedback on this article can be directed to [email protected].