A FORMER contestant on the X Factor has opened up about her new EP and the meaning behind the ‘heartbreaking’ track.

Blackburn-raised Grace Davies released ‘used to you’ earlier this month ahead of her tour with Janet Devlin.

According to the 24-year-old singer, it details an unexpected and brutal event in her career last year when her label shut down.

Grace explained: “I wrote it the day after I found out my label was unexpectedly shutting down and I would no longer be a signed artist.

"My manager called me and said he had a large gin and tonic and a curry with my name on it, so I should get on a train and be around the people who love and support me. So I did, and I cried the whole way there.

“A relationship I had worked so hard to keep afloat was gone like a rug pulled from underneath me - and there was nothing I could do to try and save it.”

Davies, who was runner up in the 2017 series of The X Factor, explained that she wrote the track the very next day on a train journey to Brighton.

(Instagram/ @gracedaviesofficial)

She said: “ ‘used to you’ is probably the easiest song I’ve ever written; every single lyric poured out of me so fast because I had so many emotions and so much I wanted to say.

“It’s such an important song for me, because it documents such a heartbreaking and brutal event in my career, and writing music was the only way I could express my emotions publicly.

“It wasn’t the end of the world, or the end of my career - but it truly felt like it at the time, and listening to it now makes me feel so proud of what I have accomplished as an independent artist. It’s one of my favourites for sure.”

Thankfully, this break-up in particular had a happy ending.

Grace, who once worked as a barmaid at the Feildens Arms in Blackburn, is now back as an independent artist taking the time to find herself and create music that showcases her full potential.

Her songs have garnered support in the press, TV and radio - ‘I met a boy online,’ was played on MTV’s new series of Catfish UK and ‘Just A Girl’ was used in the Netflix Original series ‘The One’.

Grace also shared her unmissable cover of The Goo Goo Dolls ‘iris’, which was impressively recorded in one take and featured in the 2020 finale of ITV’s hit show Love Island.

Notably, Grace herself switched on the Christmas lights in Blackburn back in 2018.

‘used to you’ was produced and mixed by Toby Scott (Little Mix, Girls Aloud, Kaiser Chiefs), and is the next single to be unleashed from Grace’ highly anticipated second EP “i wonder if you wonder” out later this year.

The EP contains the song ‘somebody’ and, excitingly, her most-requested track ‘roots’ will finally see release – rewarding her legions of fans who have been calling for the track on a daily basis since she first wrote it in 2017.

‘used to you’ is available to buy and stream now via Believe and other streaming sites.

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