Mckenna Grace, the Emmy-nominated teenage actress, has taken on a new challenge by releasing her debut EP, Bittersweet 16. In an interview with People, Grace revealed that her music is a personal reflection of her adolescent experiences, documenting the insecurities and frustrations that come with being a teenager in today’s world.
Grace has always been musically inclined, but the quarantine period, after being diagnosed with COVID-19, allowed her to seriously develop her songwriting skills. “I had the Conan Gray album Kid Crow and I put it on my record player and listened to it over and over and over again,” she told People. “At the time I didn’t know how to play guitar and so I would sit with my ukulele and just write little tunes. I have two notebooks just full of stuff from that time.”
The actress turned singer-songwriter cites Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey as her major influences, focusing on creating relatable visuals with her lyrics. While most of her songs document the demise of young love, Grace points out that the content of her music is based on a collection of occurrences in her life. “It’s just situations that happened that I’ve kind of molded into breakup songs because I find that not all breakups have to be a relationship,” she said.
However, Grace is nervous about releasing such personal music, but she remains committed to being honest with her songwriting. “There are nerves that people will hear songs and think they’re about them, especially when they’ve been written so long ago,” she shared. “I’m always so scared this sounds like it’s about something that’s happening right now and I hope that this person doesn’t think that this is about them. What if people are mad at me? Luckily, I’ve never really had that type of experience.”
Despite her success in music, Grace remains committed to her acting career, and is currently working on the latest Ghostbusters sequel. “My friends are like, ‘Oh my God, you’re in the studio like every single day,’ and I’m like, ‘I know.’ I just have no chill because I love both music and acting so much that every day I’m probably doing one or the other,” she said.
Mckenna Grace’s debut EP, “Bittersweet 16,” is a testament to her talent and authenticity as an artist. Through her music, the teenage actress has found a new outlet to express herself, capturing the insecurities and frustrations that come with growing up in today’s world. With her commitment to honesty and relatable storytelling, Grace has created a collection of songs that listeners of all ages can appreciate. It will be exciting to see where her journey takes her next, whether in music or acting, as she continues to inspire and captivate audiences with her talents.
