''Begin to Look Around'' is the debut studio album from Australian singer-songwriter

Gretta Ray Gretta Louise Ray (born 22 May 1998) is an Australian singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Victoria. In 2016, she was the winner of the national Triple J Unearthed radio competition for bands and songwriters, and the 2016 Vanda & Young Global Songw ...

, released on 27 August 2021 through

EMI Music Australia EMI Recorded Music Australia Pty Ltd (called EMI Music Australia until May 2013) is an Australian imprint of Universal Music Australia, formerly a subsidiary label of EMI Recordings Ltd and, between 1979 and 1996, that of Thorn EMI. It is Austr ...

. The album was announced in May 2021 with Ray saying "This record is a documentation and celebration of the lessons I have learned about love, life and my unremitting passion for music as I've stepped into my early twenties. It is beautiful how much you change your mind throughout those formative years; things can always be seen from a different perspective, and when you're immersed in incredible opportunities that see you travelling the world, falling in and out of love and losing your sense of independence only for it to return stronger than ever before, it is only natural that your view of yourself and the world will be refined when you wake up, and begin to look around." Ray was set to preview tracks from the album at Oxford Art Factory, Sydney on 24 June 2021 and at The Night Cat, Melbourne on 1 July 2021, but the tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the

2021 ARIA Music Awards The 2021 ARIA Music Awards are the 35th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) and consist of a series of awards, including the 2021 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Fin ...

, the album was nominated for Breakthrough Artist - Release. At the

J Awards of 2021 The J Awards of 2021 are the seventeenth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as ...

, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year. In April 2022, Ray announced the ''Begin To Look Around album tour'', which began on 2 June 2022 in Brisbane.

Singles

''Begin to Look Around'' was preceded by four

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s; "Passion" in December and three

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

d singles titled "duologies" which Ray said are "two songs joined in theme but creatively distinct; written from differing perspectives, released as a pair". Those were "Bigger Than Me"/"Readymade" in March 2021, "Human"/"Passion" in May 2021 and "Cherish"/"The Brink" July 2021. The album's fifth single, "Love Me Right" was released on 27 August 2021 alongside its music video. "It's Almost Christmas in Philly" was released as a single on 26 November 2021 for the holiday season, accompanied by an acoustic version of the song and a cover of Joni Mitchell's "

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Reception

Alex Gallagher from ''

NME Australia ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'' said "It's a collection of songs that swerve between euphoric pop gems and open-hearted ballads, blending the two on standouts like the

David Le'aupepe David Immanuel Menachem Sasagi Le’aupepe is an Australian singer, songwriter, guitarist and frontman of alternative rock band Gang of Youths, which he founded in 2011. He served as the sole songwriter on the band's first two albums, ''The Posit ...

-featuring 'Worldly Wise." Al Newstead from ''ABC'' said her debut album establishes her as "a charismatic force in pop" saying "As much as ''Begin To Look Around'' is a milestone of Gretta embracing a chart-ready evolution to her sound, it's clearly a coming-of-age record sthese songs document the turbulent years of Gretta's own life, from 19 to 21, whipping her way around the world, falling in and out of love, and staking her independence and identity not just as a musician, but as a young woman stepping into her early twenties."

Singles

Reception

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References