Liam Bailey’s Mercy Tree Challenges Bigotry

Credit: Cristian Sanchez Verona

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.  

 




El Michels Affair & Black Thought Release Glorious Game

El Michels Affair and Black Thought release their Glorious Game album. Leon Michels and Black Thought started working on the album in 2020 during the pandemic. Michels’ band is known for playing live but GG inspired a different approach. The musician decided to use lots of samples of his live playing and some lifted from soul records. Michel’s production spins Black Thought’s movie-worthy tales on an axis of nostalgic sounds that become new again. The vintage flavor courses through the survival creed of “Alone” with peppy drums and jazzy horns and the imported harmonies surrounding the autobiographical story of “The Weather.” Black Thought described GG in a press statement: “To me, these songs are like scenes from a film that is my life. That’s the way it evolved.” The Roots’ emcee’s relentless microphone rarely rests as he just shared his Cheat Codes album with Danger Mouse last year. Glorious Game is on time to make new spring and summer memories and playlists.