Grace Woodroofe

Career

When she was 17 and still in high school, Woodroofe recorded two demos of songs she wrote and uploaded them to the Triple J website Unearthed. One of her friends was also Heath Ledger's sister, and the friend sent Ledger a link to Woodroofe's music. Ledger liked Woordoofe's music, so he invited her to Los Angeles, where she met Ben Harper, who also took a liking to her music. Harper later produced her debut album, Always Want, and his band, Relentless7, played on the album. Ledger also produced a video for her cover of the David Bowie song Quicksand. In 2010, she said of this video that "It was completely his vision. He directed it, edited it, styled it and shot it. He did everything," adding that "When people will see it they will realise how amazingly gifted he was." Always Want was originally released only in Australia on 27 September 2011, and was released in the United States the following January, both times on Modular Recordings. She also collaborated with Mark Eitzel on the album; for example, they co-wrote its title track. In May 2013, she released the song "Dead Weight", reportedly as a single from her upcoming second album.

Critical reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Always Want has a score of 72 out of 100 based on 5 reviews. AllMusic's Jon O'Brien gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, and described it as "an always intriguing listen which appears to have fulfilled the potential of [Woodroofe's] fairy tale beginnings." Some critics compared Woodroofe's style on the album to that of Fiona Apple and Amy Winehouse. Consequence of Sound's Alex Young gave the album a C+, describing it as "an album of powerfully raw emotions."