Rising UK/US singer-songwriter Josh Okeefe today releases a powerful new song entitled: Grenfell Tower Fire.
As its title plainly suggests, Josh’s new track is indebted to a recent visit to the site of the burnt-out Grenfell Tower block that now scars the North Kensington area of West London.
Listen below!
Guided by members of the local community who shared with him their harrowing stories of that day, Josh’s tour culminated with an emotional visit to The Wall of Truth. A public space collating ‘first hand accounts, facts, testimonies and statements’, The Wall of Truth was created by and for members of the community in response to the disastrous events of June 13th – 15th 2017, to ensure the stories of those who suffered are never forgotten.
Josh instinctively summoned from within the moving Grenfell Tower Fire; a song that is both a heartfelt tribute to all those who suffered as a result of the 2017 disaster and a stirring clarion call for their justice.
Speaking about his experience and penning the lyrics or Grenfell Tower Fire, Josh says:
‘The Wall Of Truth, London is a kaleidoscopic, abstract but compelling protest-tribute that was carefully hand-crafted by a local man who went by the name of Livingston. I visited with him and he showed a friend and I around the place. Inspiring. I hung out for a while, took it in, sat down and picked my tune for some of the community there, listened to their stories. An elder gentleman said he had a ‘last supper” type meal in the tower with his best friend the very night before the fire…. The song itself felt like it came from somewhere else, out of thin air, dropped out of the sky. I was just the vessel.’
Josh shared this song with the community gathered at the Wall of Truth, and you can watch that performance here:
The video was also shared by The Busking Project.
Grenfell Tower Fire will feature on Josh Okeefe’s forthcoming album, expected later in 2018.