Here is a sampling of some of the socially conscious music released in October.
Songs/Videos:
Let’s Get FREER – Silent Jungle
After being in prison for 22 years, “Let’s Get FREER” is Silent Jungle’s first recording since his release. “This is the first thing anyone’s gonna hear from me as a FREE man. So this is just me walking back into society, back into the world,” says Silent Jungle.
This stirring positive affirmation is released by FREER Records, a record label dedicated to releasing music by the currently and formerly incarcerated. Unfortunately, the label is facing financial difficulties and needs support. You can read the statement by founder Fury Young.
In Amsterdam – David Rovics
This is the latest tune by the prolific singer-songwriter and activist. The topical lyrics deal with anti-Palestine sentiments being promoted in Amsterdam.
Snowflakes – Jack Dean and Company
This tune is by a UK band that blends indie, folk, and hip-hop. The song is a folky march through different oppressive issues faced by the West, from the banking crisis to the rise of populism.
Albums:
TRAИƧA – Red Hot Org
This is the latest release by the non-profit Red Hot org. Featuring 46 tracks and over 100 artists (including several trans artists), this sprawling 3.5-hour album is recorded in support of trans rights.
GNX – Kendrik Lamar
This is a surprise release by the acclaimed socially-conscious rapper. The album shows Lamar taking himself less seriously and it is an enjoyable and compact listening experience. Even though not as explicitly political as a couple of his previous releases, it is still socially aware.
Night Palace – Mount Eerie
The latest album by the one-man band project of Phil Elverum is a sprawling album that heavily embraces themes of nature (a common trope he goes back to in his music). The compelling album also may be his most explicitly political featuring poignant commentary on environmental destruction and colonialism (best exemplified on the album highlight “Non-Metaphorical Decolonization”).
Merciless – Body Count
The latest album by the metal project of Ice-T finds him as pissed off as ever at the state of the world, aiming at both sides of the political aisles, systemic racism, police brutality, and the looming possibility of a third world war.
Earthworks – Straw Man Army
This is the third in a trilogy by the NYC anarcho-punks indicting the atrocities being perpetrated by fascist, colonialist, and capitalistic regimes. The album is chock-full of righteous rage and fist-pumping goodness.
Come Ahead – Primal Scream
This is the 12th studio album by the veteran Scottish alternative dance rock band. The album is explicitly political and pro-Palestinian, best exemplified by the album closer “Settlers Blues”, which featured the poignant lyric, “They torchеd our houses, shelled our towns. Poisoned our wells, cut the olive trees down. Exiled us in our own land. Cast out like lepers in the desert sands.”
We Will Be Wherever the Fires Are Lit – Tashi Dorji
Despite being instrumental, the latest album by the Bhutan-born avant-garde guitarist well reflects the political turmoil in America and beyond. The album cover also features a grid of 12 photos by Godspeed You! Black Emperor founder Efrim Manuel Menuck.
If You See Someone Stealing Food... No, You Didn’t. – Bambu
The latest album by the Filipino-US rapper and activist is in contention for best album title. Bambu wears his politics on his sleeves and there is no ambiguity with his feelings about systemic ills. But he also succeeds in addressing serious topics with a playful wit. Also released a few days after the US presidential election it appropriately closes with the election-mocking tune “A November To Remember”.
Digital Indigenous 08: Aliyuyo Uyoo – Lulenga
This is an important archival project from Bonnie Lulenga, a Kising’a village farmer who fashions various regional instruments from local materials. The music relates the exploits of Mkwawa, a Hehe tribal leader who starting in 1891, fought off a colonial force sent to Kalenga, Iringa region in German East Africa, beginning a war of resistance against German colonization that lasted until 1898.
FUCKING USA – YANKEE BASTARD
This EP features a blistering 8 tracks over a period of just 6 and a half minutes. The album title says it all.
Ghadr – غدر – Sandy Chamoun / Anthony Sahyoun / Jad Atoui
As Israel bombs Lebanon, Beirut’s Ruptured Records remains a vital force in the DIY scene, working with Beirut Synthesizer Center for mutual aid. Their recent release, Ghadr -غدر, features artists like Yara Asmar, Julia Sabra, and co-founder Fadi Tabbal, along with Anthony Sahyoun and Sandy Chamoun (SANAM) collaborating with electroacoustic artist Jad Atoui. Ghadr confronts the realities of violence while realizing the potential for healing through tradition.
For The Dreams – King Stingray
The latest album by the Australian indie-surf band, which includes Yolngu and white musicians, heavily deals with themes of environmental destruction.
Is This A Safe Space? – Psalm One & Optiks
The latest album by the Minneapolis MC intersects personal and political. This is best exemplified by the album’s strong closer, “No Skims,” which addresses various issues, such as the genocide in Palestine.
Only Vampires Wear Capes – calm.
The latest album by the duo of rapper Time and beatmaker AwareNess is a concept album that follows the trail of anti-smile pills. The concept is used to explore various themes, including the effects of pollution. For example, on the title track, Time raps: “I’m flying over this city with all of these microplastics in me. Not to sound sarcastic but it’s in your blood, forever chemicals are with me.”
Ashk Haye Moghavemat – Faraway Ghost & Sunken Cages
The Farsi album title translates to “Tears of Resilience”. The compelling album skillfully blends both modern and more traditional forms of music. One of the album’s many highlights is the somber “Threnody for the Children” a mourning to the over 11,300 children slain by the Israeli military since last October.
A Terrible Beauty – Christy Moore
This is the latest album by the veteran Irish socially conscious folk singer. Moore has always been politically outspoken with his music, as highlighted on the track “Palestine”, where he sings: “Let me tell you a story, I’ll be quick as I can. Terrible news from the Holy Land. Pictures of children etched in my mind. Buried in the rubble, on the firing line. The Jews and the Arabs lived one and the same. A thousand years, then the Zionists came. Came like a river, came like a flood. Al Nakba was written on the wall in blood.”
Someone’s Monster – Loose Cattle
The alt-country band’s third album is socially aware and features music that resonates with the current post-election climate.
Glasgow: A History (Volume I of VI) – The Tenementals
The Tenementals is a group made up of Glasgow academics and musicians, that take their name from the sandstone housing blocks prevalent throughout the city. Singer David Archibald says that the songs are “about events that happened in the past, but they are also about developing what we might call ‘historical consciousness’, or ‘historical awareness’. We don’t live in the past, but by spending time with the past, we can recognise that the way the world is put together is not natural and eternal but changes over time. It invites us to look at our lives today and to see that the present doesn’t have to be the way that it is. We hope, then, that it invites us to conjure radical futures.”
Check out the ongoing playlist of 2024 protest music.