New album, “Tender”, out on October 23rd!
Eight years after her last release, the Irish-born, Bern-based singer-songwriter Shirley Grimes returns with her ninth studio album. TENDER is not simply a new collection of songs; it is the result of a long creative process that first required finding the right tone, the right words and, perhaps most importantly, the courage to say them.
The title TENDER was chosen for its richness of meaning. The English word embraces gentleness, vulnerability, sensitivity, delicacy, and an offer of service or care. All of these qualities resonate throughout the album.
Deeply rooted in folk and singer-songwriter traditions, the arrangements are deliberately restrained, allowing the songs and stories to take centre stage. At the same time, the production is anything but sparse for its own sake. Additional instruments appear whenever a lyric calls for another layer of meaning or emotion, carefully underlining what the songs are trying to say rather than distracting from them. The result is music that is intimate, spacious and precise.
The songs explore power and abuse of power, hope and loss, awakening, longing and self-determination. They ask uncomfortable questions that are deeply personal while also speaking to the political and social realities of our time. Since founding the charitable organisation KULTUR AM BETTRAND, which has been bringing music free of charge to people living with illness and others in vulnerable situations since 2023, Grimes has gained profound insight into subjects that are often left unspoken. The songs invite listeners into perspectives that are rarely simple or comfortable.
Produced by Hank Shizzoe and Shirley Grimes, TENDER features an exceptional group of musicians, including André Pousaz (double bass), Clemens Kuratle (drums and percussion), Vera Kappeler (piano), Wolfgang Zwiauer (piano), Michael Flury (trombone), Sophie Grimes and Finja Keogh (backing vocals), and Shirley Grimes’ son Dylan, who joins her for a duet on “Fourteen Reasons.”
With TENDER, Shirley Grimes presents what may be her most focused and fully realised work to date. In a cultural landscape that often rewards certainty, speed and volume, TENDER chooses another path. It is an album that refuses to simplify difficult questions or shout above the crowd. Instead, it suggests that tenderness is not the opposite of strength but one of its most courageous expressions. These songs invite listeners to slow down, remain curious, and discover that sometimes the quietest voice carries the greatest weight.
(Photograph by Tabea Hueberli)
