Garrett Anthony Rice confronts historical violence on new single 'The Coastal Walls (the shame of everyone)'

Garrett Anthony Rice approaches 'The Coastal Walls (the shame of everyone)' with uncompromising intent. The Greystones-based artist uses the single as a vehicle for confronting the historical and ongoing legacy of slavery, colonialism, and racial exploitation, delivering a track that is designed to unsettle as much as provoke reflection.

Built around blues-inspired instrumentation and dark, atmospheric production, the song draws heavily from the musical traditions historically tied to the American South. Guitars, sparse rhythmic structures and an increasingly disorientating closing section create a sense of tension that mirrors the subject matter. And it is here where he leans fully into discomfort, using the arrangement to reinforce the emotional and historical weight of the themes being explored.

Throughout the lyrics, the singer-songwriter frames the song around the transatlantic slave trade and its long aftermath, connecting historical atrocities to present-day conversations around accountability, memory and systemic inequality. The influence of figures such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali is evident in both the song’s rhetoric and its confrontational moral positioning.

At times, the ambition of the subject matter risks overwhelming the musical subtlety of the track itself. Yet there is sincerity in his approach that keeps the song grounded, even when its messaging becomes deliberately provocative. His performance carries the urgency of someone attempting to use music as both a protest and a historical reckoning.

With this new release, Garrett Anthony Rice delivers a politically charged piece of songwriting that prioritises moral conviction over comfort. It is a challenging and deeply serious release that asks us to confront the lasting consequences it continues to leave behind.