Perfectly Imperfect (EP)

Perfectly Imperfect is the debut EP by American recording artist Grace VanderWaal, the winner of America's Got Talent (AGT), season 11. Released on December 2, 2016, it includes all four songs that VanderWaal wrote and performed on AGT and another original song by VanderWaal, "Gossip Girl". Produced by Greg Wells, the EP debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart at No. 9.[1] It was the best selling EP of 2016.[2]

Perfectly Imperfect
EP by
Grace VanderWaal
ReleasedDecember 2, 2016
GenrePop
Length17:00
Label
ProducerGreg Wells
Grace VanderWaal chronology
Perfectly Imperfect
(2016)		 Just the Beginning
(2017)
Singles from Perfectly Imperfect
  1. "I Don't Know My Name"
    Released: November 18, 2016

Development and personnel

VanderWaal, who was then 12 years old, signed a recording deal with Columbia Records in September 2016, soon after winning AGT,[3] and started production of her debut EP, Perfectly Imperfect. She began recording sessions in New York in October.[4][5] Pre-orders for the recording entitled purchasers to an instant download of VanderWaal's song "I Don't Know My Name", which was the song she auditioned with at AGT.[6] The EP was released on December 2, 2016.[7]

There are five songs on the EP, including all four of VanderWaal's original songs from AGT and another original, "Gossip Girl". The recording is produced and mixed by Greg Wells, who is also given a songwriting credit on "Beautiful Thing" and credited with arrangements and instrumentals on the album, except that VanderWaal is credited with ukulele playing on all of the songs except "Clay" and "Beautiful Thing"; Autumn Rowe is given a songwriting credit on three of the songs. VanderWaal's sister Olivia is credited with art design.[8][9] A Walmart version features one additional song, "Missing You".[10]

Singles and commercial uses

The first single from the EP, "I Don't Know My Name", was released on November 18, 2016, the same day the EP became available for pre-order. The song was included as an immediate free download with EP pre-orders.[6] The song debuted at No. 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and No. 37 on Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart.[11] In Australia, it debuted at No. 82 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[12] The song debuted at No. 38 on Billboard's Hot Canadian Digital Singles Chart.[13] Another song on the album, "Light the Sky", is featured as background music in Google's "Year in Search 2016" video.[14]

VanderWaal also released lyrics videos on her YouTubeVEVO channel for the songs on the EP. The first was for "I Don't Know My Name", on November 18, 2016, which has accumulated more than 30 million views.[15] The next was for "Clay", on December 2.[16] "Light the Sky" followed on December 14,[17] "Beautiful Thing" was released on December 21,[18] and "Gossip Girl" debuted on December 28, 2016.[19] The lyrics videos for the five songs have been viewed a total of more than 55 million times.[20] Isis Briones of Teen Vogue wrote: "Through her lyrics alone, fans are able to feel exactly what her song is about – and once you pair them with her angelic melodies, there's definitely no stopping the feels."[21]

In August 2017, Windex used VanderWaal's "Beautiful Thing" as the soundtrack for an advertisement.[22]

Promotion

VanderWaal has been promoting the EP with a series of appearances and performances. She performed "Light the Sky" and "Riptide" at halftime during the New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 6, 2016.[23] VanderWaal performed "I Don't Know My Name" in the 2016 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,[24] on NBC's Today show on November 28[25] and at the Christmas tree lighting at South Street Seaport, in New York City, on November 29, where she also sang "Light the Sky".[26][27] She sang "I Don't Know My Name" on The Wendy Williams Show on December 2,[28] at Cyndi Lauper's annual holiday fundraiser at the Beacon Theatre on December 3,[29] on CBS's The Talk on December 8[30] and at Z100's Jingle Ball Tour 2016 stop at Madison Square Garden on December 9, 2016.[31]

In addition to her lyrics videos for the songs "I Don't Know My Name" and "Clay", VanderWaal released a video to promote Perfectly Imperfect on her YouTube VEVO channel featuring the song "I Don't Know My Name".[32]

Critical reception

Lindsay Peoples, writing for New York Magazine, called the first four songs, after hearing them on AGT, "not only catchy but emotional and unique to her own sound, a mix of raw and folk".[33] Billboard magazine praised VanderWaal's vocals, finding them "reminiscent of a Taylor Swift-Regina Spektor hybrid".[7] Brianna Wiest of Teen Vogue wrote: "The EP takes you through Grace's range, touching on issues that are all-too-well-known for young people, as well as soul-stokingly beautiful medleys that almost anyone could relate to. ... [W]e see ... her ability to master both a softer, vowel-breaking folk tone as well as push through a serious power-ballad by the end. It's rare that you see both at once, but that's part of the magic of Grace's sound: it's at once completely new, and totally unexpected."[34] Vulture.com called "Beautiful Thing" "a pure delight, devoid of cynicism and complication ... [sung] with a voice that sounds [like] it should belong to a wistful 33-year-old."[35] After Windex used the song as the soundtrack to an advertisement, Billboard added that VanderWaal can: "make you cry while watching an advertisement for a cleaning product ... [because of her] striking vocals and sincere lyrics".[22] Jamie Weikel of the Reading Eagle commented that VanderWaal's "raspy voice makes her music iconic and lovable".[36]

Commercial performance

The EP debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart at No. 9[1] and on Billboard's Canadian Albums Chart at No. 11.[37] In its debut week, it sold about 52,000 units, including 47,000 in physical form.[1] It was the best selling EP of 2016.[2]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Don't Know My Name"Grace VanderWaal2:28
2."Clay"
3:36
3."Light the Sky"
  • VanderWaal
  • Rowe
3:49
4."Beautiful Thing"
3:44
5."Gossip Girl"
  • VanderWaal
  • Rowe
3:23
Total length:17:00
WalMart exclusive version
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Missing You" (Coffeehouse version)VanderWaal1:54
Total length:18:54

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[38] 11
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[39] 2
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[40] 4
US Billboard 200[41] 9
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References
  1. Caulfield, Keith. "The Hamilton Mixtape Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart", Billboard, December 11, 2016
  2. Angermiller, Michele Amabile. "America’s Got Talent Winner Grace VanderWaal to Return for Live Results Show", Variety, July 27, 2017
  3. Angermiller, Michelle Amabile (September 20, 2016). "America's Got Talent Winner Grace VanderWaal Joins Adele, Beyonce at Columbia Records". Billboard. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  4. McDermott, Maeve (October 10, 2016). "Grace VanderWaal teases new music, tweets about her first recording session". USA Today. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  5. "Grace VanderWaal (@gracevanderwaal) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
  6. Kaufman, Gil (November 14, 2016). "AGT Winner Grace VanderWaal's Debut EP, Perfectly Imperfect, Coming Dec. 2". Billboard. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  7. "Grace VanderWaal Unleashes Stunning Vocals on New Single 'Clay'", Billboard magazine, December 2, 2016
  8. Liner notes, Perfectly Imperfect, December 2016
  9. Spanos, Brittany. "Meet Grace VanderWaal: Pop Prodigy on the Edge of 13", Rolling Stone, January 6, 2017
  10. Mallenbaum, Carly (November 16, 2016). "Exclusive: Grace VanderWaal's Perfectly Imperfect tracklist". USA Today. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  11. "Chart Search | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  12. "ARIA Chart Watch #398". auspOp. December 10, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  13. Grace VanderWaal search, Billboard.biz, accessed December 14, 2016
  14. Heldman, Breanne L. "Watch Grace VanderWaal's glowing new lyric video for 'Light the Sky'", Entertainment Weekly, December 14, 2016
  15. VanderWaal, Grace. "Grace VanderWaal – I Don't Know My Name (Lyric)", YouTube, GraceVanderWaalVEVO, November 18, 2016, accessed November 8, 2018
  16. VanderWaal, Grace. "Grace VanderWaal – Clay (Lyric)", YouTube, GraceVanderWaalVEVO, December 2, 2016, accessed December 19, 2017
  17. VanderWaal, Grace. "Grace VanderWaal – Light The Sky (Lyric)", YouTube, GraceVanderWaalVEVO, December 14, 2016
  18. VanderWaal, Grace. "Grace VanderWaal Beautiful Thing (Lyric)", YouTube, GraceVanderWaalVEVO, December 21, 2016
  19. VanderWaal, Grace. "Grace VanderWaal – Gossip Girl (Lyric)", YouTube, GraceVanderWaalVEVO, December 28, 2016
  20. VanderWaal, Grace. GraceVanderWaalVEVO: Videos, YouTube, accessed November 8, 2018
  21. Briones, Isis. "Grace VanderWaal Premieres 'Gossip Girl' Lyric Video", Teen Vogue, December 28, 2016
  22. Bell, Sadie. "Grace VanderWaal's 'Beautiful Thing' Becomes a Tear-Jerker in New Windex Commercial", Billboard, August 8, 2017
  23. VanderWaal, Grace (November 13, 2016). Grace VanderWaal MSG NY Knicks halftime show. YouTube (official channel). Retrieved November 13, 2016.
       VanderWaal, Grace (November 6, 2016). "At the Garden today singing halftime for the NY Knicks". Facebook (official account). Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  24. Strum, Phil. "Grace VanderWaal performs at Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade", The Journal News, November 24, 2016
  25. D'Zurilla, Christie. "Grace VanderWaal performs 'I Don't Know My Name', shares her age-related angst on Today", Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2016
  26. Staff. "Christmas Tree at South Street Seaport". The Tribeca Trib. Archived from the original on November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  27. Bladow, Janel. "Seaport Report: December 2016" Archived 2017-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, Downtown Express, December 1, 2016
  28. Daw, Robbie. "Grace VanderWaal's Perfectly Imperfect EP Flies Up iTunes Chart: Watch 'Clay' Lyric Video", Idolator.com, December 2, 2016
  29. Daw, Robbie. "Grace VanderWaal and Cyndi Lauper's 'True Colors' Duet in New York Is Perfection: Watch", Idolator.com, December 4, 2016
  30. "The Talk – AGT Winner Grace VanderWaal Is Still on School Honor Roll" Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, msn.com, December 9, 2016; and Cantor, Brian. "Grace VanderWaal Set To Appear, Perform on December 8 The Talk", Headline Planet, December 2, 2016
  31. "Jingle Ball 2016: See photos from the MSG concert", Newsday, December 9, 2016
  32. VanderWaal, Grace. "Grace VanderWaal – Perfectly Imperfect", YouTube, GraceVanderWaalVEVO, November 14, 2016, accessed December 19, 2017
  33. Peoples, Lindsay. "America's Got Talent Star Grace VanderWaal Is Just Getting Started", New York Magazine, December 5, 2016
  34. Wiest, Brianna. "Grace VanderWaal’s First EP, Perfectly Imperfect', Is Here", Teen Vogue, December 2, 2016
  35. "8 Best New Songs of the Week", Vulture.com, December 6, 2016
  36. Weikel, Jamie. "Grace VanderWaal makes ukulele wail on debut EP", Reading.Eagle.com, January 10, 2017
  37. "On the Charts...This Week", FYI Music News, December 12, 2016
  38. "On The Charts...This Week". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  39. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. December 12, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  40. "Grace VanderWaal Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  41. "'The Hamilton Mixtape' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
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