It’s been a fair while since I’ve updated Sonic Breakfast. Festival season has taken hold and even though I’ve made a conscious decision to cover fewer this year, reviewing them still takes up a fair whack of my spare time. Great times were had at Lunar (review here), Sonar (review here) and Barn On The Farm (review here) and I’m very much looking forward to Beat Herder this weekend coming.
I make little apology for the lack of updates and concede any posts are likely to be sporadic until the summer passes and I find a tad more time.
The world feels like a very different place since I last blogged. Inconceivably, the UK voted to leave the EU and subsequent events have both shocked and destabilised. A new Prime Minister, a Labour Party in opposition and in self destruct disarray, increased economic vulnerability and a despicable increase in reported hate crime as the vote to leave seems to have given a misplaced confidence to the voice of racist scum.
We all seem angrier, less capable of listening to each other. This is no summer of love but rather a season of discontent.
I’ve featured the fab Louis Barabbas on Sonic Breakfast before (here). I went along to his Musician gig and reviewed it for the Mercury. It’s always a pleasure to hear from him. Today, I received an E-mail telling me about an EP he’s releasing on the 22nd July, an EP that raises money for Médecins Sans Frontières, in response to recent events in UK politics and the world.
As Louis says in his mail, “It’s an EP of political songs (two songs from the point of view of our sleazy elite and two a response from those affected by all the stuff happening at the moment), admittedly a bit of a rush job but just wanted to make some sort of (probably pointless) gesture in the vague direction of horrendous politicians and generally dismal times.”
They’re songs from the musical that Louis was developing when I saw him live at the Musician. It’s a compelling EP and for an excellent cause in MSF so I’d urge readers to head on over to http://www.debtrecords.net/ on the 22nd to make an investment.
Here’s a lyric video for the EPs final track, ‘Before You Disperse’. It’s a track that tries desperately to find an optimistic and uplifting path away from the gloopy and gloomy mud that we currently stomp through. It’s a peaceful call to arms, a statement that suggests there’s still strength in unity rather than division. Perhaps the power to the people sentiment is pointless but there’s surely no harm in collective hugs. Listening to it tonight made me feel a little bit better and more resolved to act.
We’re not beaten yet (though I might feel that way after this weekend).
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