Kennedy Shaw Puts the Past to Rest in Her New EP: Mother of the Grave
“My mother told me that the reason I played piano from the minute I could walk was because she listened to Tori Amos when she was pregnant with me,” says singer-songwriter Kennedy Shaw. Amos’ influence is undeniable in Kennedy’s work: her songs are propelled by her technical piano playing, an instrument she’s been playing since she was seven years old. Kennedy’s songs deal with feminist themes Amos also explored in her songs. “Honey,” the opening track of her new EP, Mother of the Grave, describes Kennedy’s experiences of power dynamics and coercion in relationships. The track begins with a single note struck on the piano and a low, whispery vocal melody. When the song reaches its chorus, it explodes with a full band backing as Shaw plays her piano with urgency. She experiments with her vocals, using her breath as a percussive instrument, her vibrato belt trembling and powerful.
But Kennedy doesn’t pigeonhole herself to the sound of sensational singer-songwriter. Mother of the Grave is full of allusions to artists across genres that influence Shaw’s songwriting, from 90s slacker rockers Pavement (her adversary in “Honey” has “a silence kit for his respect once you’ve been assaulted”) to hip hop royalty Snoop Dogg (“Faded” finds her faded on the truth and gin and juice).
The influence of hip-hop and R&B music shines through on Mother of the Grave tracks like “Faded” and “Heaven.” “I listened to a lot of Nina Simone around the same time I began writing the songs for this EP,” Shaw recalls. “The night I wrote ‘Faded,’ I had just listened to Ctrl by SZA with some friends for the first time. I felt really connected to the melodies in songs like ‘Broken Clocks’ and ‘Doves in The Wind.’ I wanted to keep the chord changes simple and focus on the performance of my vocals and rhythm of my lyrics more.” This focus on melody and rhythm is exemplified in the EP’s single, “Heaven.” The most fully realized song on the EP, “Heaven” has a driving rhythmic bass line, melodic piano phrasings over simple chord changes, sultry background singing and a catchy ear-worm hook. The song narrates the romanticizing of a failed relationship, even if that relationship might have made Kennedy feel trapped at the time. “The songs on this EP aren’t about lost love or heartbreak,” Kennedy urges, “but instead accepting old versions of myself that live on through the eyes of other people and letting them go. Instead of breeding self-hate for a past I can no longer control, it was time to mother these younger, more timid parts of myself and give them a place to be at peace.” Kennedy is putting to rest old feelings and losses, and urging those who once knew her to recognize her growth.
Mother of the Grave began as a collection of songs recorded with friends during Shaw’s academic year at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Kennedy began attending the university for music business, and just switched her major to creative writing before the unexpected hit. Following the global shut-in with the spread of COVID-19, Kennedy was sent home to New Jersey suburbs from Philadelphia. This interruption inspired her to start setting up a home studio space to finish recording the songs for the EP herself, something she had never done before. “I was planning studio time after spring break to finish the EP, but because of COVID-19 I was sent home and started to teach myself Logic,” she says. “I’ve taken classes for recording music for years, but actually working on it in my downtime was completely different.” For the first time her music is co-produced and engineered by herself, with the help of executive producer James Sleeman and drummer Kyle Noone. Shaw has been recording in studios since she was fourteen, but the process of recording Mother of the Grave was totally different for Shaw than her previous projects: “I've never been so hands-on with any of my other projects, and in turn I feel more prideful and physically close with the music on this EP,” she describes. She’s since started recording new songs from home and hopes to be fully in control of the production for future projects.
The four songs on Mother of the Grave are reflections of a younger self, and its release is a gesture for putting another year and chapter of young adulthood behind her. Kennedy’s nods to the greats of music past and present help to bottle up this nostalgia, and brand it in a whole new way. Mother of the Grave is out on all streaming platforms July 20th. All proceeds from her single, “Heaven” will be donated to the NAACP.
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