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Oct 12, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Alison Scarpulla

Wish Queen is the project of Cleveland-based singer/songwriter Grace Sullivan. As Wish Queen, Sullivan crafts a mystic and hypnotic style of indie pop, folk, and dream pop, knitting shimmering layers of guitars and synths together with a sharp and emotive pop undercurrent. These influences converge together with Sullivan’s forthcoming debut album, Saturnalia, out October 27th. The record takes its name from the “Saturn Return,” an astrological event signifying when Saturn comes back to the place it was in your chart when you were born, signifying new growth and maturation. Fittingly, Sullivan credits her own Saturn Return as the catalyst for her own musical ventures as Wish Queen.

Last month, Sullivan shared “Magic,” the album’s first single, and today she’s back with another new single, “Grievances,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Grievances” evokes a careful balance of beauty and confession, layering Sullivan’s longing reflections within a warm blend of guitar, synths, and chiming harmonies. After beginning as a solitary acoustic ballad, the track gently unfurls into an iridescent dream pop gem, glittering with inviting melodies but burnished with a wistful undertone. Meanwhile, Sullivan’s lyrics explore that underlying discontent, laying bare the insecurities of living and creating in a time when so much feels futile: “Mindless consumer / Late nights on the computer / I wish my skin was smoother / I wish I started sooner / Later bloomer / Do they think I’m a loser / And can you see right through her? / You’re not who I thought you were.”

Sullivan says of the track, “‘Grievances’ was the first song I wrote on the album, but it was a lot different in its first iteration. The song was first called ‘Long Drive’ and the tone was a lot more melancholic and slow, more acoustic. That first version is up on my YouTube page, and it’s kind of fun to listen to it now and see how much it has evolved as I’ve developed my voice as an artist. My producer, Ausytn Benyak really helped me bring this song to life in a way that held onto that introspective sad-girl core, but with these enhanced bold and shimmering layers. I remember walking into his studio (which at the time was just a garage) and listening to the guitar and synths he’d laid down and thinking, ‘What song is this? I love it!’ And this new energy kind of hit us both and in that moment I think the whole direction of the album changed.

This song is really special to me. It really lays bare all my frustrations and insecurities in presenting myself as an artist, and expresses those feelings of hollow dullness sitting with your negative thoughts can sometimes evoke. It felt like something I needed to write down in order to move forward. For a long time, I told myself it was too late to pursue music. I was obsessed about what people would think, if they would take me seriously, what criticism I would receive. But then one day I was just like, ‘Fuck it’ and did it anyway. It became less for other people and something I just had to do for myself.”

Check out the song below. Saturnalia is out everywhere on October 27th.