Juno Award-Winner G.R. Gritt announces their sophomore record, Prisms, an album of queer love songs, and shares the first single, “Turnin’ It Up” featuring Tessa Balaz.
Turnin’ It Up” is about being in love with more than one person and more than one gender and not needing to tone down your Queerness for anyone and serves as a reminder of the importance of celebrating Pride. A Two-Spirit and Queer artist, Gritt’s Prisms is set for release later this year.
“It’s about opening yourself up to feel all of it,” explains Gritt speaking on “Turnin’ It Up”, “to seeing and loving people as they are, and encouraging the people you are lusting after to lean into their feelings and fantasies!” The very first line of the song proclaims “We Keep Turnin’ It Up!”
The song also serves as a reminder of why Pride is celebrated.
“it’s about being told to temper our Queerness, as if it is inherently extreme. When society tells us to be smaller, to take up even less space, to dim our sparkle, to hide our shine, to shrink our fabulous, that’s when we need to do the opposite,” says Gritt. “If you think we are at our loudest and proudest right now, brace yourselves: we’re crankin’ up the heat, takin’ up space, and turnin’ up the music!”
Speaking on writing the song Tessa Balaz says,
“The lyrics for “Turnin’ It Up” came from kind of a carnal place! I was thinking of the heteronormative lyrics that are normally in sexy songs or love songs. My mind immediately went to this love scene between this narrator and a woman and non-binary third person and the rush of the moment, describing how it feels.
I feel like what I’ve observed in the people around me is we’re all looking for more connection, acceptance and freedom of expression without judgement and shame. This is what this song is about. We’re human! We’re alive! Let’s party!”
“I want listeners to feel sexy and free after hearing this track,” says guitarist Peter Balaz. “From the instrumentation, lyrical content, arrangement, and the beliefs of the people that wrote it, this track represents the freedom to express yourself, and going for what you want. “Some say keep it down, so we keep turning it up!”
“Turnin’ It Up ft. Tessa Balaz” features G.R. Gritt on Vocals, Drum Machine, and Synthesizers; Tessa Balaz on Vocals; Petr Balaz on Guitar. The track was produced by G.R. Gritt and was recorded by G.R. Gritt on Robinson-Huron Treaty territory at Minotan Music, their home studio, except for the guitar which was recorded by Petr Balaz. It was mixed by Matt Weiwel at Deadpan Studios and mastered by Elisa Pangsaeng at CPS Mastering.
Gritt pulls effortlessly from the past to create soulful futurisms. Their music serves as a beacon of connection for all who come near it. Welcoming yet truthful, they reclaim space through songs that show that intersectional identity is expansive and not to be divided into parts. By exploring the emotional and cultural core of their heritage as a non-binary, queer, Indigenous artist they create new space and encourage others to do the same.
Upcoming Shows
June 22nd -National Indigenous Peoples Day with Downie Wenjack Foundation, Scotiabank Arena Toronto, ON
July 7th -Northern Lights Festival Boreal with Tessa Balaz Band, Sudbury, ON
July 15th – Sudbury Pride, Sudbury, ON
August 2nd – Live on the Waterfront Thunder Bay, ON