Liam Bailey’s “Mercy Tree” willfully calls out racism in the true spirit of resistance reggae. Bailey, who spent his childhood in Nottingham, England, tapped into his memories of “all the cliche racism that happens when people started mixing up in the ’80s in England” to write “Mercy Tree.” The stately horns, Bailey’s voice, and the foot-stomping drum are fused together into a modern-day protest song. Leon Michels of the El Michels Affair produced the single that demands equality and reparations. “Mercy Tree” is the third single from Bailey’s forthcoming Zero Grace album, which is scheduled to arrive in February. “Mercy Tree” is the third single from the album and an example of the kind of honesty the album title suggests. Bailey is singing with pure intention and no apologies for his truth. “Mercy Tree” should go down as one of reggae’s rebel classics.
