Inspirational pop artist Natasha Gray shares messages of encouragement and love on her sophomore album Reminders that dropped June 30.
“I’ve been singing since I was six years old,” Gray told the Charleston City Paper. “Growing up, my mom never told me to stop. She never said, ‘You’re singing too loud, turn it down.’ I was just free to explore, listen to a bunch of music and see where it took me.”
Besides loving the pop of Billie Eilish and the R&B of Brandy, Gray said her influences also include country and jazz. And while she is worship leader at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, she said her music does not fall in the realm of traditional gospel.
The production on the new album draws out an old-school flavor with vocal effects and ’80s pop-esque accents, showcasing Gray’s luxurious vocal range over an eclectic R&B foundation.
The lyric “darkness comes for me to shine” heard on the second track “Shine” encapsulates the album’s overall message — it does not deny pain, but instead interprets human heart ache as a gateway to peace and joy.
Reminders, produced and co-written by Gray’s musician husband Rodrick Cliche, features 14 tracks bursting with an essence that uplifts and brings calm to a worried mind. In addition to Cliche, guest vocalists include the couple’s children B. Peelz, Zakia Chan and Niko Major.
Gray’s album coalesced during the pandemic shutdown when the pause allowed her to focus, and she and her husband took advantage of that gift of free time. She said she was asking herself: “What am I supposed to be doing?” and “What is God saying to me?”
“2020 was like the year of bad news,” said Gray, who moved to Charleston 12 years ago.
“Every time I looked on social media, every time I turned the TV on, it was just bad news. And I’m like, ‘What is happening?’ So these messages [heard on] Reminders are all the little things that God was dropping in my mind and my heart as I was journaling.
“That’s how [the album] came to be, from being secluded. The world had gone crazy and was trying to figure out what we are supposed to be doing. And God is always reminding us of things, like he is still love, and he is still good.”
The main motivation for Gray was to bring a sense of comfort to listeners, she said.
“I’m a whimsical kind of person,” she said. “So every time Rodrick was like, ‘Well, what do you want this to sound like?’ I said, ‘whimsical.’ I want people to feel hopeful — if you could feel a little hug from God, that’s what I want.”
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