New York, NY (Top40 Charts) With a bold unlocking of freedom and femininity, Manu
Grace has become a purveyor of "sensitive pop" -- unguarded and groovy, appealing to both heart and feet alike. She just shared "Over the Stove," the sensual and gorgeous new song from the South African songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, taken from her upcoming sophomore EP, No Room for Error (out October 16 via Platoon). In the song, she declares "I don't wanna be holding onto a stale set of morals... I wanna make love." Manu also notes of the visual for the song, "I'm a huge fan of Anico Mostert's work. The visual for 'Over the Stove' is an adaptation of her video collage, 'Morning routine at house in the clouds', incorporating a video of me and my sweet hounds ascending our mountain."
The new track follows the EP's lead single "
Two Weeks" which premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1
Radio show as a "World First" record, and has been featured by NPR
Music on their "New
Music Friday" podcast. The song is the musical manifestation of an unanticipated romance and was shared with an intimate, DIY visual from Manu, filmed while in shutdown with her family in South Africa.
Raised in a creative family, and sheltered from the distractions of technological advancements, Manu grew up with plenty of room for her imagination to thrive. At 15, she wrote her first full composition the day her baby brother came home from the hospital and joined the band The Aztec Sapphire during her final high school exams. She notes, "I learned so much about my craft from that experience -- I learned about arrangement, recording, and gear in general. Aztec quite literally altered my world."
Manu went on to do a stint at the University of Cape Town
Music School. During this time, she connected with Ross Dorkin and
Robin Brink of Beatenberg who have gone on to produce both her new EP and June, her 2019 debut EP. She worked her way from Italy to London to Berlin doing odd jobs along the way to be able to work with them while revelling in the obscurity travel brought her, and creating music she had long dreamt up.
No Room for Error reflects Manu's inner and outer world over the course of an eventful couple of months of love, loss and visa runs. It trails her travels chronologically and the project reads like a story. The EP is unabashed about desire; vulnerable and fierce. "I approached the process with a sense of freedom and fearlessness -- no idea was ever too wild, and I really love working like that."
