Grace Petrie first came to my attention when she stole the stage at Glastonbury’s Left Field in 2010 from Frank Turner and Billy Bragg. She is clearly a big fan of Bragg and follows his habit of mixing pop and politics, with her latest EP, When No One’s Listening, doing just that.
The first of three tracks focus on the protests against the Coalition’s spending cuts, and the people behind them. Nick Clegg and Maggie Thatcher get their fair share of the blame and there is clear criticism for the police and judges over the handling of the protests and the protesters. Petrie clearly feels that she and her fellow protesters were not taken seriously because of their tender years and ‘A Ton Of Bricks’ focuses on how the establishment tried to quash not only the protests, but the desire to protest against the government.
And like her hero Bragg, Petrie can also write a mean love song. Although ‘Orbit’ is not as strong as some of her earlier offerings, it still shows a tender side, one of hopeful anticipation rather than melancholy regret. Petrie has a very distinctive voice and a very powerful message which she seems to be sharing at a very prolific rate at the minute.
Words: Nathan Walker
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