There is something quietly compelling about an artist who embraces the mess rather than attempting to disguise it. For Dublin singer-songwriter Grace Tooher, aka Graceless, imperfection becomes something of a creative manifesto, with her self-titled debut EP finding beauty in the uncomfortable spaces between grief, anger, vulnerability and desire. Across four tracks, Graceless introduces an artist unafraid to sit with difficult emotions, delivering a collection that feels intimate, considered and refreshingly unguarded. There is a distinct alternative sensibility running throughout, balancing moments of widescreen intensity with a more stripped-back, confessional approach.
Opening with ‘The Raven’, the EP begins in the aftermath of loss, finding a sense of possibility in the process of moving through grief. It is an evocative introduction to Tooher’s songwriting, establishing an emotional directness that carries into ‘God’s Plan’. A semi-finalist in the 2025 International Songwriting Competition, the latter takes aim at the weaponisation of religion, exploring the ways faith can be manipulated to divide, control and legitimise conflict. There is a welcome refusal to soften its message, with Graceless bringing an incisive edge to material that could easily become overly earnest. Instead, the track feels pointed and purposeful, adding another dimension to the EP’s emotional landscape.
‘Underwater’ takes things somewhere considerably darker, exploring the temptation to remain submerged in sadness rather than make the difficult journey towards recovery. There is a compelling tension in its subject matter, capturing the familiarity of destructive patterns and the strange comfort that can be found in surrendering to them. The track’s atmospheric alternative-rock sensibility gives it a particularly immersive quality, recalling the expansive emotional ambition of artists like Florence Welch, while maintaining a personality distinctly its own. It is a testament to Tooher’s instincts as a songwriter that these heavier themes never feel like emotional exercises. Instead, they land with a genuine sense of lived-in vulnerability.
By the time ‘Pillow Talk’ arrives, the EP has undergone a subtle but significant transformation. Its focus track is perhaps Graceless at her most exposed, turning away from grand gestures in favour of something altogether more delicate. Written about the awkward excitement of wanting to know someone beyond the intimacy of a first encounter, it captures the anticipation of conversation, curiosity and the possibility of something more. Delivered as a single voice, without unnecessary embellishment, its under-three-minute runtime feels perfectly judged. There is an understated charm to its honesty, and a lyrical sensitivity that makes the everyday business of having a crush feel unexpectedly profound. It is also a fitting closing chapter, leaving the listener somewhere lighter, albeit no less emotionally revealing.
As a debut, ‘Graceless’ makes a persuasive case for Grace Tooher as an alternative voice worth paying attention to. Her background fronting Staring at Lakes, alongside longtime collaborator Richie McNeill and the wider band, provides a foundation for a sound that moves comfortably between indie-rock grandeur and intimate singer-songwriter confession. Yet it is the project’s central contradiction that proves most interesting. A name born from feeling perpetually unfinished becomes an assertion of artistic freedom, a rejection of the pressure to be polished, perfect or entirely figured out. Across four chapters, Graceless finds strength in precisely those imperfections. It’s a promising introduction, and one that suggests there is considerably more to come.
