In 2017, between releasing Retro Futurism and Heavy Visuals I released a stand alone track called “Nasty” exclusively on Bandcamp. Nasty was recorded and mixed hastily in about a day. It was a single bass line and noisy guitar with soundbites from politicians. I later pulled the release after only a couple of downloads, because I wasn’t happy with the result. It was, at that time going to be the start of my new album. My focus at the time was a darker third album, more political. I canned the project because I wasn’t happy with the direction I was going.

Two years later, with the current political climate becoming more uncertain, I felt compelled to revisit this. So I updated the soundbites and overhauled the instrumentation. What we have with ‘Snouts’ is a refinement of the initial concept. An album based around “snouts” theme will be released in 2020.

I never initially wanted to be political with my music, obviously I have failed that here. However, since 2016, I have become overtly more political in my daily life, as it directly impacts on my profession and the corner of the world that my family is in. My goal with this track was to try and approach each political party objectively and to give all equal representation, that has not happened. The track does have political bias, as I was making it it became apparent that the ones responsible for abject misery are the ones in charge. In essence, my political ideology has undoubtedly influenced that. So if you are a conservative, you probably won’t like this track very much. Maybe you should hear it, the facts, figures, sound bites and utter disregard for ‘the people’ might be sobering.

Not that I care if you like it, in the UK, the last nine years of Conservative government has been damaging. Homelessness on the rise, crime on the rise, over crowding in prisons, schools and hospitals underfunded, the shambles that is Brexit and not forgetting that the country is in even more debt than it was nine years ago, despite these austerity measures. Additionally, fake twitter accounts to smear the competition, alleged Russian interference, institutional racism et al. Really, is it surprising I’ve targeted the current politicians?

‘Snouts’ I suppose, is my way of trying to make sense of it all. My befuddlement and sheer anger rolled into one. Making this track has been part catharsis and utter despair. When mixing this, I shed tears listening back to some of the utter contempt some of our ‘leaders’ have for the rest of us. It isn’t meant to be enjoyed. Remember that. It’s just a bit of a reminder of what a fucking mess we are in at the minute. If you don’t think we are, you are either deluded or very, very lucky indeed.