Second single from the forthcoming album from Flamy Grant. And THIS time the hip-swaying, singing-songwriting North Carolinian drag queen is out to settle a few scores…
Release Date: 12th July 2024
Label: Self Release
Formats: Digital
We’re starting to hear a lot about self-described “Shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen,” Flamy Grant and we’re gonna be hearing a whole more from her very soon. We loved Flamy’s June single, S.P.R.K.L., describing it as “…sharp and frighteningly funky” in our recent review and – hot news – her promised new album, CHURCH, the long-awaited follow-up to Flamy’s 2022 acclaimed debut, Bible Belt Baby – will be with us on 26th September. Watch this space…
Flamy’s stage name – her drag name – is her homage to Amy Grant, Christian musician and 90s chart-topping pop artist. Indeed, much of Flamy’s music centres upon the queer spiritual journey, telling stories of resilience and recovery from religious trauma in a world where LGBTQ+ people are frequently ignored by, harmed in, or ejected from religious spaces. On Last Days, Flamy is joined by fellow LGBTQ+ crusader, Chris Houseman and, together, they make some biting assessments of the corruption and bigotry that is, it seems, rife in the US Evangelical Establishment.
Last Days – the second single to preview that forthcoming album – reflects upon the firestorm that ignited when Flamy’s debut album hit the #1 spot on the iTunes Christian chart. That firestorm included a rant from a self-proclaimed MAGA preacher that disparaged Flamy’s orientation and Christian entitlement. Now, as a naïve Brit, whose Methodist upbringing albeit lies in tatters, somewhere back in the distant past, I consider that MAGA philosophies and Christian ethics are polar opposites and mutually exclusive and it seems that Flamy and I are on the same page with that; in Last Days, she articulately sets out her response to the vitriol she suffers from those who she has every right to believe should know better.
And, speaking of the feelings that motivated her to write and record Last Days, Flamy has this to say: “If these truly are the last days, let them be the last days of bigotry, shame and gatekeeping. I hope that Last Days will serve as a celebratory rally cry for Christians who are tired of their faith being used to tyrannise and politically persecute the LGBTQ+ community, women, BIPOC folks and everyone else currently suffering at the hands of evangelicals.”
And Flamy makes those points in the most glorious way possible. Last Days is loud and vibrant, searing and passionate. The listener is left in no doubt that Flamy means every word as she calls out those who: facilitate church and state making deals with the devil and each other; weaponize faith (it’s not holy if it causes suffering); make decisions about someone else’s body; express unchecked abuses and so, so much more. Guitars grind and an organ swirls and, always, the relentless drumbeat persists in a tune that, to my ears at least, has something of a Creedence feel, particularly during the soaring chorus as Flamy delivers her “Freedom can only begin when the last days end” punch line.
Last Days is a tremendous song. It says much that desperately needs to be said, and regularly repeated. And, I’ve a feeling that CHURCH, the forthcoming album will say a whole lot more. Bring it on!
You can listen to Last Days – the second single chosen to preview the forthcoming Flamy Grant album, CHURCH – here:
Flamy Grant online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / X (formerly Twitter) / TikTok / YouTube / Spotify
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Categories: Single Review
