This year has brought a lot of newness and a lot of renewed energy. We’re ready to put 2020 in the past and firmly look forward and no one is more ready to look toward the future than Grace VanderWaal. The singer put aside her signature ukulele for her latest track “Don’t Assume What You Don’t Know,” a rock-centric track that’s a whole new vibe for her.
Of the song, VanderWaal said in a press release, “It’s about someone facing the truth about Hollywood, going through that process and realizing that they’re in too deep. It feels really good to express yourself so freely. It’s empowering and very healing.”
Describing her new sound as a bit of “alternative-infused pop,” “Don’t Assume What You Don’t Know” takes VanderWaal to a whole other plane that feels like it’s exactly where she belongs. Her raspy voice — which always lent itself well to her ukulele/folk vibe — settles in comfortably on this track.
Alongside the new song comes a matching video for “Don’t Assume What You Don’t Know” that’s dripping in darkness and shadows, allowing VanderWaal’s music to do all the work as she sings about the other side of fame. This new sound isn’t necessarily something we would have expected from the bright-eyed America’s Got Talent winner, and yet, it works. It works so well.
“Don’t Assume What You Don’t Know” is the start of VanderWaal’s next wave and will lead into her next project, which she’s currently working on. She’s been spending time in the studio putting together her next body of work that will no doubt shake 2021 to its core. After hearing and seeing this latest single and video, we can only imagine what this rock star has in store for us. All we know is that it’s definitely going to be memorable and fly as hell.