Hurray For The Riff Raff, from the artist’s Bandcamp.
Here is a small sampling of the socially conscious music released during the past month.
Songs/Videos:
Eve Is Black – Allison Russell
This is a recently released lyric video for one of the highlights from Russell’s 2023 album The Returner (one of the best protest albums of 2023).
Computer Lady – Spoon Jackson
This tune by spoken word artist Spoon Jackson is a reference to the automated voice that interrupts prison calls with a reminder that the call is being recorded or that it will be cut off in 60 seconds. This was created in prison where he has been incarcerated for 47 years. It is the first single off his upcoming album No Moon, out April 17.
Lifelines/Mawtini – Dublin Jazzers For Gaza
Deeply troubled by the humanitarian catastrophe created by the war in Gaza, Dublin-based guitarist Eamon Moran recruited a group of like-minded Irish jazz musicians to record a version of “Mawtini”, which previously was the Palestine National Anthem. The piece includes spoken word poetry by Billy Ó hAnluain. All proceeds from the single will go to Médicine sans Frontiéres (Doctors Without Borders). The companion video includes footage compiled and donated by Ed Godsell and several Palestinian Citizen journalists.
Albums:
The Past Is Still Alive – Hurray For The Riff Raff
This is the 9th studio album by the project of Alynda Segarra. They started to compose the album a month after the death of their father. Even though it is deeply rooted in the personal, like previous releases the personal intersects with the political exploring environmental and LGBTQ+ issues.
Musow Danse – Les Amazones D’Afrique
This is the 3rd album by the West African collective, made up of six women from six different countries. Like previous albums, it is filled with galvanizing tunes of empowerment.
A Delusional Guide for the Disillusioned – Kemastry X Jazz T
This EP by UK rapper Kemastry and fellow country-man producer Jazz T explores the concept of politicized population control. The opening track “Mind Control” sets the tone for the themes that will be explored: “A mass psychosis can result when a population of weak and vulnerable individuals is driven into a state of panic by threats real, imagined or fabricated.”
Mawja – Aziza Brahim
This is the 5th album by the Sahrawi singer-songwriter, musician, and activist. Brahim describes the music as “desert punk” and she taps into her experiences of being born and growing up in a refugee camp in Algeria. The album explores themes of freedom, both personal and political.
Hole in My Head – Laura Jane Grace
The 2nd solo album from the Against Me! frontwomen is another example of the personal being political. Even though it is not explicitly a protest album, it does touch on issues of gender dysphoria and makes her views on cops pretty clear (“I’m not a fucking cop, cop, cop, cop, cop! Are you a fucking cop? Don’t be a fucking cop!” – “I’m Not a Cop”).
Yirinda – Yirinda
Yirinda is an Australian duo made up of Fred Leone and Samuel Pankhurst. Leone is one of only three Butchulla songmen, who take on the role of song and language custodian for the Butchulla people from the Fraser Coast region of Queensland. This is an important archival project that helps preserve an endangered language and culture.
Girl With No Face – Allie X
The 3rd album by the Canadian avant-pop singer-songwriter addresses themes of identity, power, and control. One of the album’s highlights “Off With Her Tits” explores the issue of body image and the pressure to conform to societal and gender norms.
Valentines for Palestine – Various
This compilation put together by New York indie label Toadstool Records was released on Valentine’s Day. All proceeds are donated to The Freedom Theatre, a community-based theater and cultural center in Palestine that has endured violence, intimidation, and vandalism.
1 2 3 4 – Modern English
The latest album by the veteran UK band features a few socially conscious tunes such as the lead single “Not My Leader” and the environmentally themed “Plastic”.
Rooting For Love – Laetitia Sadier
On the 5th album by the Sterolab vocalist, she juxtaposes pleasant musical arrangements with pointed social commentary. She stealthily addresses serious issues such as femicide. According to her Bandcamp page: “Laetitia issues a call to the traumatized civilizations of Earth: we’re urged to finally evolve past our countless millennia of suffering and alienation.”
Skin – Maddie Morris
The latest album by the UK folk singer-songwriter is bookended by two potent protest tunes, “Marsha P Johnson” about the gay liberation activist and the defiant “Political T-Shirt”.
Chronic Illness Wish – Genital Shame
The debut full-length album by the black metal project of Trans musician Erin Dawson challenges genre norms with tunes such as “Hermaphroditic Image” or “I Met Kerri Colby,” an eight-minute ode to the RuPaul’s Drag Race star.
victim impact statement – Jaguar Jonze
The latest EP by the Taiwanese-Australian singer-songwriter and producer deals with her harrowing experience of being sexually assaulted and the stigma she faced from coming forward.
Also, check out the ongoing playlist of the 2024 protest tunes featuring music that has appeared on this website.