Gracey is another of those secrets of the music industry. Born in Brighton, Grace Barker has been a name present in the United Kingdom composition studies since before the pandemic. Tanned in the Xenomania team, with whom he started working at age 16, his credits include a single Top 9 in the United Kingdom, ‘Don’t Need Love’ with 220 Kid, and a Top 15 certified with a platinum album, ‘by your side’ by Jonas Blue with Raye. During his career, Gracey has collaborated with artists like Meghan Trainor (‘Make You Dance’), Anne-Marie (‘Better off’) or Rina Sawayama (‘Catch me in the air’).
As a soloist, Gracey – who is 27 years old – has sought his place in the exploration of electropop sounds, eighties and baladescos – without forgetting some urban or purely pop nuance – such as those explored in ‘99%’,’ Like that ‘or’ Empty Love ‘, three themes included in his EP of 2020,’ The Art of Closure ‘.
But the best of Gracey is coming. In 2025, the now independent artist is demonstrating why he tells SIA, Lorde or Robyn among his main influences. His recent simple ‘What A Waste’, ‘Rhetorical Questions’ and ‘Back To Then’ have pointed in that direction. They just added ‘gimmicks’, everyone’s best single and today’s song.
Armed with a Swedish electropop sound that reminds the first Robyn, a freshness that refers to Tove Styrke’s work, and a piece of pop melody that seems signed by Charli XCX, ‘Gimmicks’ is a great ode to love as a security network. In the letter, Gracey sings that she does not need her loved person to conquer her with any manido “trick”, because the work is already done: Gracey can already be herself in this relationship and feels sure to try to overcome the demons of the past.
The composition of ‘gimmicks’ is intelligent, and the production of Lindgren, aka by Michel Schulz – which is not Swedish, but German – opts for a 100 & synthetic sound that follows Sophie’s wake, especially in the metal texture of percussions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apsxjzoijao
