An EP raising money for Médecins Sans Frontières.
For the last year I’ve been writing a musical all about power struggles and political manipulation. Up until now I’ve been relatively coy about the material, trying out songs on the road but with no plans to publish anything officially until the full cast recording is underway later this year.
The recent EU referendum in the UK, however, left me and many others in varying degrees of despondency and fury. Whilst I do not think this little EP will alter the bleak situation facing us, writing and playing these songs has helped me focus my thoughts and keep busy. I think expressing this stuff is important, even if it’s ultimately an empty gesture. The aftermath of the Leave vote has lifted the lid on the most rancid of everyday prejudices that were always there but have, up until now, been consigned to the margins and shadows. Now that hate crime and far right rhetoric are on the rise those of us who wish for a kinder more inclusive society must make no secret of our views.
One little EP of live demos won’t change anything but it exists alongside many other gestures, large and small, that express the hopes and judgments of those that want a lot better from our political leaders and neighbours alike.
Tracks 1 and 3 are sung from the point of view of the politicians who engineered our current situation; tracks 2 and 4 are from those they affect.
All money raised from sales of this EP goes to MSF: an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. MSF offers assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.
