Gal Musette gets honest about grief in her latest single “Moment”

The world works to mystify us. It surprises us by dropping things into our lives when we most need them and taking away things we never expected to lose. It’s a give-and-take that is both terrifying and prepossessing - and Grace Freeman is no stranger to those powers.

Going by the pseudonym Gal Musette, the indie-folk singer is familiar with cosmic happenstance. It was when she was deep in a sea of grief when her latest single, “Moment”, found her. A Southern California native, Musette wrote a verse for a song years ago and forgot all about it. Seven spins around the sun later, filled with dread and devoid of creative energy, everything changed when she found a folded-up piece of paper in her glove compartment.

“”Moment” was a song I wrote one verse for 7 years ago, but at some point I lost the paper with lyrics on it and over time almost completely forgot the melody. Years later when I experienced a significant personal loss, I was struggling to express my grief and fell into a crippling season of writer's block. By a stroke of serendipity, the lyric reappeared on a folded piece of paper in my glove compartment which triggered a memory of the melody, and led full circle to my finishing the song and beginning to let go.” Melody forgotten, words half-faded on the page, this right here was exactly what she needed.

Turning her grief into fodder, Musette crafted just a few lines into a longer work and set it atop a delicate soundscape rife with melancholic piano and driving drums. Quickly, “Moment” took shape, and it’s a track that ripples with real emotion. A tribute to a person she has unexpectedly lost, Musette ponders the courage it takes to accept reality and move forward. The grief is heavy, but there is bliss in acceptance.

Naming herself after the bal-musette style of music, a French instrumental genre rife with features from accordion and bagpipes, Gal Musette consistently crafts pop melodies like “Moment” straight from dreams. She’s a self-proclaimed indie-folk artist but gracefully dips her toes into just about every musical pond. Drawing inspiration beyond the norm, Musette’s primary influences stem from shoegaze acts like the Cocteau Twins, modern alternative groups like Big Thief, and post-punk acts such as The Cure, but other musical legends like Joni Mitchell, Regina Spektor, and Björk have also inspired her music.

In her revealing discography, grief is not the only heavy emotion Musette has tackled. Featuring the work of one of her personal musical heroes Rufus Wainwright, her debut album Backwards Lullaby was released in October 2021. The piano virtuoso’s first album is a deep exploration of the many roles love takes on: the unrequited, the hopeless, and the kind that’s all in your head. These heartfelt lyrics touch the brain, the body, and the soul, stirring something new inside with each listen. Since her first album, she has released other singles and renditions of previous projects including two new singles before “Moment” this year. "Je vois le ciel" is a sultry, ethereal number sung entirely in the French language, and "Plateau" is an ode to taking off those rose-colored glasses.

Nostalgia runs deep in the sparse synth soundscapes of each of these songs. Angelic harmonies round the surface alongside acoustic guitars, synth, and tickled ivories to create a sense of comfort and intrigue with its sweeping orchestral pop sound. This is the essence of Gal Musette.

Having previously shared the stage with artists such as The Magnetic Fields, Macy Gray, Todd Snyder, and Donavon Frankenreiter, Musette already has a whole lot of experience under her belt despite a relatively recent introduction to the world of music. “Moment” is the third single coming ahead of her upcoming album Pendulum due to be released sometime in the summer. With an open heart displaying a vast range of lyrical and musical talent, we don’t want to wait for it a moment more.