Just the Beginning is the debut studio album by then 13-year-old[3] American singer-songwriter Grace VanderWaal, consisting of twelve original tracks.

The album was released on November 3, 2017, by Columbia Records and Syco Music, produced by Ido Zmishlany, Tim Sommers, Sean Douglas, Greg Wells and Gregg Wattenberg, among others.

[7] By early 2017, VanderWaal began working on the album, telling Billboard that it will be "more produced ... really the same sound ... [but] less acoustic" than her debut EP, Perfectly Imperfect (2016).

[11] On June 21, as part of VidCon's opening show, YouTube OnStage, at Anaheim Convention Center in California, she premiered[12] the first single from the album, "Moonlight".

[30] Producers on the album include Ido Zmishlany, Tim Sommers, Sean Douglas, Greg Wells, Gregg Wattenberg, Derek Fuhrmann, Mike Adubato and Michel Heyaca.

[13] Raisa Bruner of Time commented that the song "maintains [VanderWaal's] acoustic flair while layering in a lightly tropical touch".

"[33] Lisa Nguyen of Paste wrote of "Sick of Being Told": "The track is a catchy tune with poppy beats that perfectly capture [VanderWaal's] youthful spirit.

Throughout the refreshing LP, VanderWaal channels the folky twang of Swift's earlier projects, but intertwines the sounds of fellow musicians Florence Welch, Regina Spektor and even Miley Cyrus".

[36] Selina Fragassi of the Chicago Sun-Times commented that VanderWaal's "raspy-sweet-peculiar vocals recall Elle King, Regina Spektor and Katy Perry ... [and] proves herself a modern-day Mozart".

[37] The Buffalo News, reviewer opined: "The album tackles a wide range of scenarios and emotions, well beyond her 13 years, in 12 magnificently crafted tracks.

But it's "A Better Life", the song that so masterfully channels several of pop's biggest voices, that best combines VanderWaal's two modes, opening with her modest finger-picking before she unleashes one of the album's most exquisitely-sung melodies.