Kimmortal, from the artist’s Bandcamp
Here is a recap of some of the socially conscious music released in July.
Songs/Videos:
Hot Planet – Snotty Nose Rez Kids
This recently released video is for a track off the Canadian Indigenous rap duo 2022 album I’m Good, HBU?. The tune and video make reference to climate change and indigenous issues. The album has also been shortlisted for the 2023 Polaris Prize, which will be announced September 19.
Mekong Baby – No-No Boy
This is the first single from the upcoming 3rd album Empire Electric, due September 29, 2023, by the project of Julian Saporiti. Featuring vocals from veteran Viet-American vocalist Thai Hien, in a press statement Saporiti described the motivation behind the song: “The spare lyric considers two things: 1. Thich Nhat Hanh’s Buddhist teachings on ‘listening to one’s inner child’ and 2. my family living through war and empires in Vietnam down in the Mekong River Delta. This song is a lullaby to the inner child, mine, and my family’s, amidst shards of broken, beautiful, and difficult memories. But intentionally, you can dance to it. Through war and loss, we keep living, keep doing our best. That’s vital to understand. We are not flat people, not black-and-white photos of our most traumatic eras, not just ‘refugees.’ I’m in awe of my mother, her sister, and their mom. They have lived with instructional grace and perseverance. They have handled death, displacement, and broken families with art, faith, and love.”
In Your Love – Tyler Childers
This video is the first single off the singer-songwriter’s upcoming 6th full-length album Rustin’ in the Rain, due out September 8, 2023. The tune is a moving love song, but the lyrics aren’t overly explicit. On the other hand, the video depicts the story of a gay couple in the 1950s in rural Appalachia where they faced attacks from co-workers at a coal mine. Childers’ personal connection with his gay cousin helped motivate the subject matter.
“For all the ugliness that it’s going to bring out that just can’t be helped, this video is going to make real conversations possible,” Childers related to NPR. “This is a story of two people sharing their love and living a life together and experiencing loss. That’s pretty powerful.”
Mugabe – EL BENTLY 448
EL BENTLY 448 is the rapper alias of Luke Benson, who spent 25 years of wrongful imprisonment. He recently released an official visualizer for “Mugabe”, a track off the recently released EP Innocent Born Guilty.
Benson mentioned the following about the origins of the tune: “I happened to be on lockup when I wrote that song in 2012 and I was kind of angry, but anybody that knows me, knows that I’ve been doing a lot of studies; especially about the people’s liberation movements. When I say the “peoples” I’m talking about the Aboriginal people, I’m talking about the people of color, I’m talking about the poor people. In the course of me doing that, I bumped into Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe used to be Rhodesia. It was run by the colonial British and Robert Mugabe was the leader of a peasant revolt; he came from huts to take his country back. So this is why you hear “I’m gonna take my freedom back, Robert Mugabe,” because he was the least likely to succeed in taking his freedom back. Nobody would have seen this aboriginal, indigenous person of Africa at that time actually come back and help his people regain their strength and their power. They renamed Rhodesia to Zimbabwe; What it was originally called by the people. Robert Mugabe has since then become known as a tyrant. Over time he became a dictator. He became oppressive to his people because he moved into a state of paranoia. So the irony of the song “Robert Mugabe” is me representing my life at the time reclaiming my freedom while being a double entendre of potentially overdosing on power.”
The Man – Cinnamon Babe & Otep
This is a collaboration of the nu-metal project of actress and influencer Stormi Maya and nu-metal veteran Otep. This is the latest single off the upcoming debut EP from Cinnamon Babe Fatherless, due August 25th. Like previous singles “Loose” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll is Black,” Maya channels her personal experience as a woman of color in a predominately white and male genre. Otep is also no stranger to explicitly political subject matters and addressing feminist issues.
Albums:
My Back Was a Bridge For You to Cross – ANOHNI and the Johnsons
Concerning the motivation behind ANOHNI’s poignant new album she stated: “I’ve been thinking a lot about Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. That was a really important touchstone in my mind. A couple of these songs are almost a response to the call of What’s Going On, from 2023. They are a kind of an echo from the future to that album from 50 years ago.”
The album which features a photo of the LGBTQ rights activist Marsha P. Johnson, covers a broad range of timely topics such as inequality, ecocide, and Future Feminism.
Retas – Voice of Baceprot
Sometimes the simple act of making music could be considered a political statement. That is the case with the debut album by the Indonesian metal trio consisting of Muslim women. Even though the playing of music could be considered a statement, the lyrics of the tunes also cover themes such as female empowerment and anti-war. The music also happens to kick ass.
Blackbraid II – Blackbraid
The sophomore album by the dark metal project of indigenous musician Sgah’gahsowáh taps into his native heritage and reverence for the planet. Not explicitly political, but it does embrace nature and you can hear how hailing from the majestic Adirondack Mountains has influenced him.
Salesforce – Lauren Bousfield
In contrast with her day job of composing background music for commercials, TV, films, and other media, this album by the experimental electronic musician is chock full of anti-capitalist sentiments. Discussing her primary employment, Bousfield said: “Society does not work, nothing works, so making music for something that’s like, ‘This totally works!’ makes me feel more sardonic.”
Mondo Tempo – Freak Heat Waves
Appropriately the title track of the latest album by an electronic duo that calls themselves Freak Heat Waves addresses the issue of climate change. The lyrics “One degree worldwide, one degree worldwide…/Let’s realize it’s a crime/I think it’s a sign that it’s on the rise” resonates in the wake of the prevalence of wildfires in their native Canada and elsewhere.
Connection – Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog
The 5th album by the experimental trio led by veteran guitarist and songwriter Marc Ribot is musically genre-agnostic and lyrically incisive. Lyrics such as “Fascists beat up on our brothers/Take the choice from our sisters/Hurt our non-binary siblings,” (“Soldiers in the Army of Love”) currently resonate.
Shoebox – Kimmortal
The 3rd album by the Canadian Filipinx rapper is the perfect intersection of the personal and political. The tunes embrace self-love, self-empowerment and not letting anyone make you feel less than.
Ganalili – Spinifex Gum
This is the third studio album of the Australian collaborative project featuring the all-female Indigenous ensemble Marliya Choir and members of the alt-rock band The Cat Empire. Like their previous albums, it effectively relates the experiences of the Yindjibarndi people and potently protests the destructive impact of the mining industry.
Commie Cowboy – Pink Williams
The latest album by the self-described “Queer Leftist Cowboy” features a retro country musical arrangement with modern-day social commentary. He skillfully employs satirical wit to denounce the ills of capitalism.
Black Weirdo EP – Kilamanzego
The latest EP by the electronic artist and producer deals with being an outsider with identity struggles. The tunes also speak out on behalf of the marginalized.
Glitoris – Glitoris
The self-titled sophomore album by the Australian feminist punk band is described on the Bandcamp album page, “A genre-bending rock-pop-art-clown-metal record loaded up with humour and badassery, and a rallying call-to-arms response to major political events and ongoing injustice.” Couldn’t say it better myself.
Check out the ongoing playlist of the notable 2023 protest music featured on this site.