Artist: Ellie-Grace Summers
Title: Tumble
Length: 3:47
Genre: Country, Country Rock
Written By: Ellie-Grace Summers
Produced By: Ellie-Grace Summers, Mike Daly
Label: Studio 60 Records
From The Album: TBC
"Tumble" is a country rock song written and performed by American singer-songwriter and producer, Ellie-Grace Summers. The song serves as the lead single to the 22 year-old's forthcoming third studio album which currently remains untitled.
"Tumble" is Summers' sixth official single release and first since her 2012 number one collaboration with Ryan Williams,
"All The Beautiful Things". The song was written and a demo was recorded in September 2013 while Summers was participating in her joint world tour alongside British songstress, Michelle. Originally, Ellie-Grace did not plan on using the song for herself. Instead, she offered the track to fellow country artist Andrea for inclusion on her debut album,
"In and Out of Consciousness". However, Andrea declined the offer and the track was eventually re-recorded and mixed by Summers in February 2014 at Quad Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.
The single was written by Ellie-Grace while she was taking part in the
"Michellie-Grace World Tour". The tour was in support of Michelle's third studio album,
"Live To Tell", as well as Grace's sophomore effort,
"Too Far From Home". Summers also played some new tracks from her highly anticipated third studio album. After writing the song, Ellie-Grace found herself with over sixty tracks to chose from and
"Tumble" was originally cut from the track listing. After the song was rejected by Andrea, the song was returned to Summers. While building up for the release of her third record, many setbacks came along the way and after sitting on the album for months, Summers lost interest in the bulk of the original track listing. She then went on to revisit and rework many of the rough drafts and demos she created for the album and her attention was drawn to
"Tumble" this time around after previously overlooking the track. Unlike the tracks on her last record, the single was not produced by long-time collaborator and close friend, Julian Morello and is instead producer by Summers herself and Mike Daly.
"Tumble" will now be available to purchase in all good music stores, iTunes, Amazon, EllieGraceSummers.com and via Studio60 Records' official website.
BackgroundAccording to Ellie-Grace in a 2013 interview the song was one of the last songs that she had written for the record. At the time she did not give any extra information about the song apart from the title. Summers also went on to name some other working song titles such as
"The Walk",
"Lay Down" and
"Distortion". In a more recent interview before she had revealed that "Tumble" would be the lead single, Summers went on to describe her reasoning for choosing the then mystery track as the first single from the highly anticipated project.
"I've been away from quite some time now. In one month it would have been exactly two years since I released my last single, the Ryan Williams collaboration. I wanted to come back with a track, not necessarily representative of the third record but something that makes everyone pay attention and realise that I'm back and that I do care about my work and my fans. Like I said, it's been nearly two years since I last released and a lot of people had given up hope and thought that I wasn't taking this seriously which couldn't be further from the truth. When you're faced with many setbacks like I was, it can become very frustrating. I don't want to go into too much detail but I was presented with many unexpected personal situations, timings just weren't right then new song ideas came along and I felt disconnected with a bunch of tracks. Lots of stuff went on and it meant that this record was constantly being put on hold. This song is a little bit different to my previous stuff, not too dissimilar because the last thing I want to do is alienate old fans. The lead single is country with a rock twinge and there's something very quirky about the production and vocal delivery. It seems a little odd for a lead single but after being away for this long, I didn't want to come back with something that everyone's heard from me before. This long break has been a blessing in disguise as it has really allowed me time to grow as a person and artist plus with the extended period of time that I've been away for, it sort of allows this new album and single to feel like a rebirth. I feel refreshed and ready to get back out there again so why not do it with a bang? I'm glad to be with such a supportive label who have shown me nothing but love throughout the process of making this new record."The song is a country rock influenced track, produced by Ellie-Grace Summers herself alongside well known country producer, Mike Daly. Lyrically, the song talks about a girl wanting more out of a close friendship with a guy but all of her doubts and fears stop her from saying what she wants to say. She also imagines certain possible scenarios that could play out once she tells her friend how she really feels. The drastic extremes of the "happy ending" and the "tragic ending" are the main reasons for her reservations. Summers stated that this was one of the easiest songs to write as it is a "typical love song" but despite the generic nature of some of the lyrics, she wanted to deliver an interesting vocal performance and quirky production to demonstrate the "unstable" and "stuttering" persona of the girl in the song.
"I will even admit that on paper, the song doesn't look like it's up to much. I always love to put raw emotion into songs and make them a little "Ellie" by drawing on past experiences. This song however, was not based on an experience of mine and was actually just plucked out of thing air and written within five minutes. It's probably why I initially overlooked it. I was playing around with possible one word titles, going through the dictionary, thinking of metaphors...just seeing if anything would catch my interest and I just so happened to like the idea of 'tumble'. I wrote it on the tour bus with the TV on in the background so I wasn't setting out to make this track the story of my life. After I had chosen the original track listing, I sent a lot of the leftover tracks away to other artist and this one found it's way back to me. Months later, I scrapped a lot of songs that I just wasn't connected to anymore and when I was looking over some of the earlier ones, something just struck me about this song. I worked on it again and just fell in love. I find myself singing the chorus all the time! It's definitely my shower song!I had to choose it as the lead single because it ticks all the right boxes. It's fun, catchy, a natural progression and very refreshing."Critical ReceptionThe song has received mixed reviews from music critics upon premiering. Jaymi Walker of
Billboard gave the song a positive review:
"It's catchier than a cold, radio-friendly, kissed by the voice of an angel and explores new territory without abandoning her roots. "Tumble" is definitely a step in the right direction and could well and truly become one of Ellie-Grace's biggest releases yet. Michelle Oakley of
PopCrush appreciated the song's production and sonic reference to Summers' signature country sound but criticised its lyrical content:
"We adore the 'in your face' rock influenced sound that Miss Ellie-Grace is throwing at us with her new record but lyrically, "Tumble", is rather thin on the ground and for a lead single, it doesn't quite pack a much needed punch." Amma Chaza at
Music Times also had mixed feelings upon hearing the song.
"The lyrics may sound like they come directly from a 13 year-old girl's diary but the catchy chorus redeems the song from being a total misfire. Like when Hilary Duff and Madonna released "Chasing The Sun" and "Give Me All Your Luvin'", it was a little underwhelming and disappointing but still far from being a bad song. It's listenable but Ms Summers can do so much better. Here's hoping single number two hits the mark."Adam Ferguson of the music network
Fuse was more critical in his review of the song:
"When one of the most talented, critically acclaimed artists of today delivers a soggy love song, too sickly sweet for even a Mandy Williams or Sophia record, it's kind of a smack in the face." writes Ferguson,
"perhaps Summers was just feeling rather lazy that day which would also explain her uninteresting vocals throughout the entire length of the song. She may wish to go back to the drawing board with this one" Popjustice, however, were more positive in their review: "At first you think it's one of the worst songs you've heard all year. It's an odd little track but that's the beauty of it. You find yourself giving it another listen to try and form a proper opinion of this little number and before you know it, it has wormed its way into your head and you're hitting repeat without even giving it a second thought."
TumbleI don't want to have to spell everything right out
My heart's on my sleeve, do I really need to say it loud?
I don't want to open my mouth and ruin things
But if I don't take a chance, I'll never know how it ends
I'm so sick and tired of playing this waiting game
Rip off the band aid, hope to hear that you feel the same
It might be one huge mistake or it could make my whole day
Dreams can come true, so they say
It might cause my heart to break, maybe make my world shake
Now if only I could find the words to say...
And now you're standing just an inch from my face
I want to make this perfect, I'll do whatever it takes
But I know I'm setting myself up for one big fall
Tongue-tied, love struck, can even muster a mumble
Can we just skip the hard part? Wrap up in my embrace
Your scent, your touch, that smile is what I crave
Yet I know I'm setting myself up for one big fall
My legs give way, you turn your face and I tumble, tumble, oh! Yeah, we've been friends now for quite some time
We've shared all of our stories and know each other's minds
It's hard to tame a girl with such a big, wild heart
I let that fire burn until all of my walls fall apart
Now I just have to bare it all, put it out in the open
I would if I could but when you're around, I start choking
It might be one huge mistake or it could make my whole day
Dreams can come true, so they say
It might cause my heart to break, maybe make my world shake
Now if only I could find the words to say...
And now you're standing just an inch from my face
I want to make this perfect, I'll do whatever it takes
But I know I'm setting myself up for one big fall
Tongue-tied, love struck, can even muster a mumble
Can we just skip the hard part? Wrap up in my embrace
Your scent, your touch, that smile is what I crave
Yet I know I'm setting myself up for one big fall
My legs give way, you turn your face and I tumble, tumble, oh! Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I'm gonna tumble
Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I just fumble
Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I'm about to tumble
This should be the part where you lean in for the kiss
When you lift me off my feet and make me your little princess
This should be the part where you start to call it love
Where you take me to the top and lose my head in the clouds above
This should be the part when I jump into your arms and we laugh and stumble
But I have a fear that you'll let me go and just watch me tumble
And now you're standing just an inch from my face
I want to make this perfect, I'll do whatever it takes
But I know I'm setting myself up for one big fall
Tongue-tied, love struck, can even muster a mumble
Can we just skip the hard part? Wrap up in my embrace
Your scent, your touch, that smile is what I crave
Yet I know I'm setting myself up for one big fall
My legs give way, you turn your face and I tumble, tumble, oh!Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I'm gonna tumble
Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I just fumble
Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I'm about to tumble
Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I'm gonna tumble
Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I just fumble
Oh, whoa, oh, uh, oh, I'm about to tumble
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