Isaac Gracie

WHO?

One young man, one electric Rickenbacker guitar, and one song online called Last Words. In just seven months he’s gone from writing alone in his bedroom and playing to his family to being a hotly tipped international breakthrough act for 2016. He completed his first year at UEA and was in his second year when everything suddenly went off.

SOUNDS LIKE?

On meeting Isaac Gracie you notice that he’s physically introverted: cupping his hands nervously in his lap, hunched over with his legs tightly crossed, head down but peering out at you through long, thick, blonde curtains of hair as he talks. His shocking blue eyes have an old soul behind them. His voice does too. He’s one of those rare artists who talk in the same voice that they sing. It’s assuring, and makes him seem genuine. Vocally he’s deep and husky, and trembles with humility as his lyrics mull over the past, the future, old flames and insecurities, periodically boiling with waves of raw emotion. His songs flirt with space and silence - your ears will be listening for the tiniest of background noises to set the scene. His guitar carries him along like a soothing and warm lazy river, the wing man to his poetic vocals. As you listen, you can imagine the big boardroom of execs planning his eventual stadium set up. A full band? Violins? A choir? However the real beauty in his sound is that it’s just him. He likes to keep it that way with writing too: "There are some real true merits to co-writing, but at the same time, for me, there needs to be a level of loneliness or isolation… for me to believe in it."

LIVE

He’s just finished supporting The Japanese House on tour and is bound to be heading out in this capacity again soon. He’s steadily confirming festival slots on his Facebook page, and the odd London show, but get your bucket list out and write this on it in big letters: I MUST SEE ISAAC GRACIE IN A SMALL VENUE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.