10 new political albums that will make you think twice

March 30, 2022
Issue 
10 new political albums that will make you think twice

Do you think there's no good protest music these days? So did I, until I started looking for it. The truth is it's always been out there - it's just a bit difficult to find. Every month, I search it out, listen to it all, then round up the best of it that relates to that month's political news. Here's the round-up for March 2022.

1. PINCH POINTS - PROCESS

On March 8, showing how much less they were actually paying women. The same day, chart-topping pop star days earlier, led . A fortnight later, Melbourne punks Pinch Points released their new album, which tackles women's brutal oppression. On "Haruspex", they sing: "We talk and talk while women get deader... We scare ourselves to sleep at night - scare ourselves in broad daylight. Scare ourselves on the bus; what dress is long enough?" Over spiky, bouncy, catchy riffs, the album takes on a whole world of politics, from the gig economy and climate anxiety to mental health and Aboriginal deaths in custody. 鈥,鈥 said the band. 听

2. XAVIER RUDD - JAN JUC MOON

On March 15, Aboriginal politician and former magistrate Pat O鈥橲hane called for police accountability to mark the International Day Against Police Brutality. Her demand came as the family of Aboriginal teenager Kumanjayi Walker told people to "keep fighting for justice" after who shot him dead in Australia's Northern Territory. On March 25, Aboriginal musician Xavier Rudd released his new album. It features Northern Territory Indigenous rapper J-MILLA, who shot to fame with his song about Walker's killing, "Unlock The System". On Rudd's track "Ball And Chain", J-MILLA spits: "This ball and chain has incarcerated my freedom. Born into the system and wasn鈥檛 given a reason. Same cycle continues and follows the same sequence. Screaming for change and it鈥檚 bringing out inner demons."

FREAKONS - FREAKONS album artwork

3. FREAKONS - FREAKONS

As Aboriginal people continued to fight against new coal mines across Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the country would be . The coal would be accompanied by . The announcement came days before the release of a coal-themed, collaborative album between British punks The Mekons and US country band Freakwater. "Both bands mined British folk and American classic country music for three-chord songs whose lyrics fit the nihilism or political rage or outlandish joy of the moment," they said. "Many of these songs were about coal mining. Traditional songs about heroic union organisers, deadly mine disasters, wailing orphans, or mining's grim history of economic and ecological devastation fit seamlessly alongside each band's original material." And so the album was born. 听听

4. VARIOUS ARTISTS - SLAVA UKRAINI!听

If you'd like to make a less controversial contribution to Ukraine than Australia's coal and weapons, try the new fundraising album Slava Ukraini! Its songs range in style from contemplative classical to experimental screeds against war. All proceeds go to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which helps refugees fleeing war. Such refugees include . The New York Times interviewed them by phone as they fled the war zone on March 3. In the interview, they described how they'd been protesting against Russian President Vladimir Putin for years, but had to cancel their latest tour as war broke out. The same day, Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who was jailed by Putin, announced she had by selling a of its flag. But she , saying they only hurt the poor. 听听

5. CHARLOTTE ADIG脡RY & BOLIS PUPUL - TOPICAL DANCER

The points out the insanity of such wars. On the track "Esperanto", Charlotte Adig茅ry sings: "Don't say, 'We need to build a wall.' Say, 'I'm a world citizen, I don't believe in borders.'" Appropriately, , from Belgium's colonialism to anti-Asian racism. It even mocks stereotypes about white people. On March 11, untypical white man Tobias Forge released Impera, the new album by his Swedish metal band, Ghost, which rages against stupid white men worldwide. Discussing the album, which skewers "bloated nations" and "empty leaders", he said: "It鈥檚 almost eerie how . We have just gone through what would be an equal to Spanish flu in the beginning of 1918 and, currently, we are on the brink of what could become World War III.鈥

LA OCTAVA DIMENSION - FUJIMORI album artwork