Browsing Tag

Protest Song

Nick Cody and the Heartache: We Are the Many – Euphony-Rich Folk for the Empathic Masses

Posted on 12 April 2026

Against the backdrop of a fractured Britain, Nick Cody and the Heartache orchestrated a folk-infused uprising in their latest single, We Are the Many. Hailing from the creative hive of Leeds, Cody is a writer who has long earned nods from scene heavyweights like Chris Catalyst, yet this latest ensemble feels particularly vital.

The track redresses the ‘masses against the classes’ energy of the Manics within an accordance of euphony-rich harmony. Alongside Cody’s rallying, Billy Bragg-esque vocals linger the diaphanous timbre of Liz Hanks. Having previously lent her cello and vocal weight to legends like the Pet Shop Boys, Liz Hanks softens the blow of this protestive serenade. She takes the sting out of the inequity which necessitated the release, reminding listeners that some souls still swim in empathy. The radiance of the harmonies in this cathartically pure single is diametrically opposed to the angst found on the other side of the socio-political spectrum, instilled with a grace Reform voters could only hope for. It is a sonic sanctuary for those tired of the status quo.

Taken from the upcoming album, Sweet Songs & Bitter Truth, the track will also feature in the film All Kinds of Crazy.

We Are the Many is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Malte Schöning’s AIDA Turns Memory, Sea Crossings and Sleepwalking History into a Harbingering Folk Lullaby

Posted on 6 April 2026

If Malte Schöning became the voice of his generation, this era’s levels of empathy would reach heights great enough to address the sickness we’re sleepwalking through and maybe even prevent history from repeating. His standout single, AIDA, which opens the recently released EP Erste Chance, crosses cultural boundaries with enough visceral, emotive force to obliterate them and remind us that compassion shouldn’t be constrained by colour, creed, or continents.

The Hamburg singer-songwriter has taken his songs from busking spots to festival stages across Europe, yet AIDA carries the directness of someone still singing to real people rather than faceless crowds. That immediacy matters because this song bears witness.

The gentleness of the fingerpicked melodies works in aching juxtaposition with the stridency and restrained fervour in Schöning’s imploring, passion-lined vocals. Written from a true story and shaped by an encounter with a Holocaust survivor, AIDA preserves a memory while forcing the present into view, drawing a line between the child who fled the Nazis and those still fleeing across the sea today. The message that “Never again” applies to all people, lands with devastating clarity. With the English version on the way, this harrowing Euro folk lullaby looks set to prise eyes wide open even further. I couldn’t think of another song more worthy of going viral

AIDA is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Paul Jannicola Rubs Salt into the Wound of Tyranny with the Folk Fury of ‘Sorrow in My Soul’

Posted on 1 April 2026

If a folk artist can’t conjure a visceral atmosphere with little more than their vocal cords and acoustic strings, they’re not worth their salt, and Paul Jannicola brought enough brine to sting wounds wide open on Sorrow in My Soul.

In his latest release, the NYC-born, Virginia-based singer-songwriter draws listeners into the harrow of a haunting vignette inspired by the fatal shootings at the hands of ICE in Minneapolis. There’s no ornamental cushioning or softening of the blow, only a direct, intravenous line into grief, fury, and the sickening familiarity of public trauma. Jannicola, whose live reputation has carried him from the National Mall to wider recognition, knows exactly how to make a song feel like testimony.

“Four Dead in 1970 How far we haven’t come Blood flowing in the streets of Minneapolis And they’re hoping that we all just go numb” is Jannicola’s way of iterating that we don’t have to fear damnation, we’re already here, walking through the lies of progress, watching history repeat and tyranny ultimately leaving us unfazed because we’re desensitised by the horror on our streets and in our soul.

The official video, released on YouTube earlier this year, for a submission into the NPR Tiny Desk Contest 2026, only sharpens the force of the track. If it misses wider acclaim, we’ve got another reason to riot. The way it fires you up with vindication to spit out the ennui and feed your anger is unmatched by anything we have heard recently.

Sorrow in My Soul is now available on all major streaming platforms. Catch the official music video on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Johnny Screwbags came with knives on Neighbors Bleed, a nu metal reckoning for the politically apathetic

Posted on 17 November 2025

Johnny Screwbags came with knives to his latest track, Neighbours Bleed. It opens on a ’90s melodic metal guitar motif, thick with saturation and reverb, and before long, he reveals his stripes as a veritable rap renegade, powered up by the spite of social oppression and injustice. The bars land like written indictments, spat through gritted teeth, while the rhythm section stomps with familiar nu metal swagger. When the bouncy augmented chorus hits, it delivers all the infectious energy you would expect from the most unashamed rap rock, yet the mood stays rooted in real anger rather than parody.

Neighbors Bleed gives you somewhere to put the rage that builds as the railing verses scathe against the tendency for people to drift through life in comfortable apathy, as long as they are not being turned into society’s latest scapegoat or target. The hooks loop around bitter truths about blood on hands and shrugged shoulders, giving the track the feel of a protest chant dragged through concrete and distortion.

Johnny Screwbags arrives as the blistering new Denver nu metal project from bleed moxie (Mitchel Paulson), a long-time underground hip hop mainstay and former Twin Cities heavyweight who has already been tipped by local press and radio. After relocating from St Paul to Denver, he racked up critical recognition with projects like womens society and the Deaf Ear EP, which featured collaborations with Method Man, Redman and Lil Yachty.

 Studio engineer and co-vocalist Hunter Holland played a key role in sharpening the sound in Neighbors Bleed, while a revolving cast of respected Denver musicians kept the energy volatile and unpredictable as Johnny Screwbags tightens his grip on the alternative scene.

Neighbors Bleed is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mikernan Arrell Landed in the Eco Folk Punk Vanguard with ‘Plastic Bottles’

Posted on 23 September 2025

Mikernan Arrell didn’t throw the first stone in the environmentalism revolution, but with his Celtic folk-punk protest, Plastic Bags, he restoked the fires of fervour, pushing the oceanic plight of plastic pollution back into the psyches of his ever-growing fanbase.

Through the ultimate equilibrium of boisterousness, bounce, melody, and infectiously chaotic energy, Mikernan Arrell ensured that his latest seminal single doesn’t read like a lecture. It’s not a guilt trip you’ll regret taking, it’s an eccentric catalyst that implores you to amass marine compassion with a wholesome reprise of “what are the fishies to do?”.

He may go in for the rugged aural aesthetic, but with its radio-ready production, the lyrical narrative sinks deeper into your consciousness – if you need to revive your motivation to hold people to account before we disintegrate with the rest of the ecosystem, Arrell gave it in spades with Plastic Bags.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Arrell is an independent singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, recording and mixing engineer, and producer. Known for fronting the eccentric hard rock trio Master Splinter and composing for alternative rock duo Unanimous, he channels a different energy in his solo work, rooted in alt-country and Celtic folk. From his home base at Splinter Studio PDX, he captures unfiltered soul in every track he touches.

Plastic Bags is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 
Review by Amelia Vandergast

Folk-Pop Alchemy: Winds of Change by Anam Danu Ignites the Collective Conscience

Posted on 18 July 2025
Winds of Change by Anam Danu

With Winds of Change, Anam Danu poured more than melancholy into the adult contemporary alternative genre – they laid down an aural mosaic that compels the listener to step out of the introspective bubble and into the wider reality of our collective footprint. The trio, comprised of Siobhan Monaghan on vocals and piano, Andy Dawson Reid’s songwriting and bass, and Adrienne Dyer’s crystalline harmonies, conjured a celestial protest song that draws on their deep-rooted musical synergy and a shared devotion to evocative pop.

As the first verse drifts in with, “There are wildfires in the mountains, and the valley’s full of cars, there’s a shadow in the west that’s slowly blotting out the stars,” the track sets an urgent tone, inviting you to witness the world’s turmoil rather than shutting your eyes to the mounting smoke. The folk-pop-soaked arrangement ripples with influences that flutter somewhere between Fleetwood Mac, Enya, and the soft, pastoral lilt of the countryside, all while tackling the wildfires, chaos, and political disarray of the modern age. Every refrain, “Waiting for the winds of change to come and blow this dust away,” is a mantra for anyone desperate for a cleansing breeze to clear the haze of apathy.

‘Winds of Change’ started life as a motif inspired by a documentary and blossomed into a full-bodied protest anthem, a cinematic call for decorum, dignity, and action. As part of the band’s fourth album ‘Euphoria’ and now reborn as a 2025 single, the track offers a rallying point for anyone tired of watching the world spin out.

Winds of Change is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Bandcamp. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

A New Jerusalem: Judas Goat & The Bellwether’s Arcane Anthem Against the Climate Crisis

Posted on 4 May 2024
There Is Always a Dawn by Judas Goat & the Bellwether

“There Is Always a Dawn” by Judas Goat & The Bellwether pours the ardour of the Neoclassical Romantic Era into a vessel of arcane folk-rock. In a similar vein as William Blake’s evocative poem, Jerusalem, which became an influential precipice for the duo to lyrically jump off, the duo’s aura reverberates around morality while keeping a finely tuned balance of rationality and emotion in the evocatively conjured performance which is a call to arms against the impending threat of ecological collapse, with religious iconography replacing the more direct climate-conscious conversations.

The power of the metaphor came into full force in this fiery protest of how we’ve put the noose around the neck of the environment all in the name of progress that will ultimately become our downfall. The duo, Sara Vian and Pete Vincent, crafted the ultimate clarion call to arms, wrapped in the trappings of folk reverence and light-handed production which corrodes none of the arcane performance. You can’t help but lose yourself in the existential introspection, which exemplifies why the duo have won accolades in The Climates Songwriting Competition.

There Is Always a Dawn hit Bandcamp on April 22 ahead of its release across all major platforms on May 8th.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Love, Builder of Worlds has unleashed their synth-punk manifesto, Scared for the Climate

Posted on 2 May 2024
Love, Builder of Worlds

With the release of “Scared for the Climate“, the independent artist, Love, Builder of Worlds, delivered an electrifying DIY alt-rock anthem that captures the essence of punk rebellion with the precision of a seasoned artist.

The single encapsulates a raw, urgent message wrapped in the infectious energy of funk-drenched synth punk—a stylistic nod to the dance-punk vibes reminiscent of Kathleen Hanna’s work in Le Tigre. The track’s short, snappy runtime is no barrier to its impact; instead, it enhances its punchy, protest-driven ethos. The lyrics hit hard and fast, their pseudo-hip-hop delivery layering a sense of immediacy over the compelling synth rhythms. The result is a powerful musical manifesto that does more than just sound an alarm—it’s a public safety announcement for the planet.

Love’s unique artistic background, as part of the Olólúfè Collective, infuses their work with a profound understanding of intersectional struggles. They navigate through genres—from punk rock to afrobeat—with the ease of a genre-defying originator, underscoring their commitment to challenging colonial binary frameworks through music.

Scared for the Climate is a fiery call to awareness, urging listeners to confront one of the most pressing existential threats of our time. Through this track, Love, Builder of Worlds, doesn’t merely aim to entertain but to galvanise action, making it a quintessential listen for those attuned to the pressing issues of our era and the potent power of music as a form of resistance.

Scared for the Climate is due for release on May 5th; stream the single on Bandcamp, SoundCloud and Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

HEwas give us a new, bang up-to-date take on a classic with ‘2 + 2 = ?’

Posted on 7 May 2021

Ok, so first things first; yes, this is a cover of Bob Seger’s classic anti-war song, from Seger’s ‘Ramblin, Gamblin Man’ album in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam war and as anti-war sentiment in the US was growing. It’s interesting to see how much, and yet how little, has changed in the intervening 53 years – anti-war feelings still run high, race-related civil rights issues still grace the news seemingly every day, and LGBT rights are still abused and debated daily.

Into that mix comes HEwas, singer, songwriter, activist and LGBT campaigner. Already a ‘million stream’ artist with his first two releases, ‘Lemon’ and ‘WHOLEthing’, which featured Grammy nominee Afroman. Now, with ‘2 + 2 = ?’, HEwas has taken that old Seger classic, with updated instrumentation but no change to the feel and groove of the original, making a perfect homage meets timely update to a pertinent and completely relevant song, to produce an utterly modern take on a song that’s as relevant today as it was fifty years ago.

You can hear ‘2 + 2 = ?’, and the rest of HEwas’ releases, on Spotify, and follow on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Get Adrenalized with S.C.R.D.’s Rap-Driven Alt-Rock Track ‘Mosh Pit’

Posted on 6 November 2020

I never anticipated my favourite mosh pit of 2020 would come in the form of a Rap-driven Alt Rock track, but there’s no paralleling S.C.R.D.’s relentlessly high-octane protest single Mosh Pit. It’s wittily scathing, and it packs an adrenalizing punch.

So, if you were in danger of slipping into apathy or ennui, hit play on Mosh Pit; with sirens blazing under the harshly steady Rock beats, it is electrifying from start to finish. Any fans of Wu Tang Clan and Public Enemy will definitely want to jump on this caustically compelling track which pays ode to 90s Old School while serving up the antidote to our 2020 misery.

I may not be covered in the sweat of strangers and left bruised, but I’m galvanized all the same. More than anything, I’m eager to see what S.C.R.D. brings to the airwaves next.

Mosh Pit is available to stream and download on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast