As he ascends to arena status and festival headlining slots, we didn’t need to look hard to find the new George Ezra – just as far as the Hertford bedroom next door, to be precise.
Ten Tonnes is also known as Ethan Barnett, George Ezra Barnett’s little brother. He’s been keeping it in the family by touring as George’s support act recently, but his other support slots, with Rat Boy and Stereophonics, give a better idea of his sound.
Upbeat pop tunes built for whistling are still the order of the day, but his voice is a little more raw than George and the guitars are quite a lot louder.
He’s been working on his debut album, coming in April, with Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs and various members of The Maccabees. They’ve come up with a lively indie rock sound that should be enough to set him far enough apart from his triumphant sibling and develop his own fanbase.
Two headline London shows in the diary, the second far bigger than the first, show that the list of admirers is growing rapidly.
Feb 5, Scala, N1 (scala-london.co.uk); May 17, Heaven, WC2. heaven-live.co.uk