GRACE CUMMINGS - Bloodhorse!

If on “Ramona” Grace Cummings was already chasing an unbounded artistic freedom to express her personality and lyrical instincts, on “Bloodhorse!” the singer-songwriter has set herself no limits whatsoever and, once again alongside trusted producer Jonathan Wilson, has decided to do exactly as she pleases without a shred of hesitation. Blithely not giving a damn about how critics and audiences will receive it is clearly a bold choice for a musician who, despite having a solid and loyal fanbase, doesn't live off her art alone but also works as a disability care worker. Yet the fact that she's determined to release only the music that represents her as authentically as possible comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed the metamorphoses that have marked her path from the start.

Here she is, then, back at Topanga Canyon, where the creative alchemy with Wilson still seems to be bearing fruit: amid lysergic streams, folk-rock and a cinematic use of strings, Cummings crafts increasingly sophisticated arrangements for her songs. It's not just a matter of greater layering, but also of a sound that expands and grows heavier. So it's hardly a coincidence that the collection opens with a psych-rock composition where epic grandeur is set ablaze by a kaleidoscope of hallucinated visions tied to morphine use.
“Bloodhorse!” is a record unafraid to venture into dark, mysterious crevices or even outright grotesque territory. “FAKE” endlessly scrapes at filth, discomfort and trauma until strings and percussion melt into an almost two-minute drone, which in turn dissolves into the piano-rock march of the title track. And while the theatrical dimension and the incredible vocal performance (“My God” was recorded despite Cummings having pneumonia) are always present, it's the weird moments that heighten the hallucinated, surreal aura hovering over the collection.

The title track is in fact followed by a second take, an AI-generated satirical interlude that mocks the male gaze at the heart of macho country pop. A genuine WTF moment that, yes, was certainly entirely unnecessary, but which clashes with the context in a paradoxically natural way, and which moreover corrodes, through a palinode, the mythologized cowboy figure Cummings had appropriated to make it the symbolic centerpiece of her previous album, “Ramona”. This amused perspective also surfaces in “John Lennon”, where the sad realization of the failed pacifist yearning of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is followed by a jab – sung, moreover, with enviable aplomb – at the eternal, tireless rivals of the Beatles: “John, the war still isn't over/ Even though we want it gone/ But we've still got The Rolling Stones/ They're just in need of a rolling rhythm”.

Regardless of this streak of humor in a state of grace, the Australian singer-songwriter clearly has fun making music, and you can hear it. Indeed, between ballads, nods to the psychedelic rock of the Sixties and what might be the best song of her career (“My God”), on “Bloodhorse!” she's also slipped in a brand-new, perfect Bond movie song (“My Island and Me”). Never mind if the protagonist sips Jack Daniel's instead of a Vodka Martini: with her voice and her music, Grace Cummings truly seems infallible.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

30/08/2026