As music writer Dorian Lynsky says in his foreword, writing a protest song has never been easy, but for any artist who cares deeply about the state of things, then they find a way of articulating that and just see what happens. And, as it happens, many of the artists on this excellent compilation of 'protest' songs have found a way.
Compiled by Stevie and Jamie Freeman of the Lewes based Union Music Store, this is very much, although not completely, a Sussex affair. Inspired by the recent general election result, they quickly coalesced 16 artists with 16 songs, ten of them written and recorded in direct response to that result, the feeling still raw, with a general theme hinging on Thatcher's infamous claim that 'there is no such thing as society.' The Freemans and co have, through song and music, demonstrated the spirit of community that still beats hard in this land, despite the continuing austerity, and neo-liberalist policies of recent governments, that purposefully or otherwise, continue to chip away at this notion of 'community.' and 'togetherness' in the traditional sense. These voices are therefore, as always, important.
 
Many have bemoaned the decline of the protest or overtly political song, and while this is true of the mainstream (bar very rare examples, they simply don't exist in the upper reaches of the charts anymore), the tradition has always been alive and well, mainly via the loose worlds of folk, roots and world music. There are many a fine singer-songwriter and band to be heard up and down the land, you just have to dig a little. Or, listen to this…
 
One of the few recent bands to have made a big mark with their protest music in recent times are The Levellers, and here, frontman Mark Chadwick (now a Lewes resident) has re-worked No Change, a song taken from The Levellers debut album of 1990, A Weapon Called The Word, but a bit more stripped back and with added country flavours this time: "We are the singers of the protest songs, the tide that keeps rolling on, we read the books that tells the truth… why does nothing change?" sings a forever passionate and forthright Chadwick.
 
Other highlights include songwriter Emily Barker's Doing The Best I Can, featuring crisply produced country flavours, as does Danii Nicholls' wonderfully rousing A Little Redemption, while the superb Moulettes tone down their usually raucous and energetic orchestral prog folk with the vocally-rich Lullaby, and bluegrass favourites Mountain Firework Company impart a little much needed wit and jauntiness to proceedings with Filthy Lucre.
 
A couple of tracks by singer songwriters in particular forcibly hit the mark; firstly, there's Lucy Ward's through gritted teeth delivery on Bigger Than That; this biting analysis of greed and indifference features some of the most forthright lyrics on this record: 'You say that we're stupid, you tell us we're naive, you belittle our compassion to justify your greed', is one of many that add up to a depressing 'I'm Alright Jack' picture as painted by Ward, while Will Varley's rallying The Sound of Markets Crashing could be the sound of Bob Dylan of yesteryear, but with his politics firmly on his sleeve.
 
Elsewhere The Self Help Group go all rustic, banjo and percussion leading the way on Funeral Drum, the song building as the lyrics invoke the spirit of community moving as one, Oxford based Dreaming Spires continue their love affair love with Teenage Fanclub and 18Wheeler, on the melodically-rich and stripped back Follow The Money, which strikes a note of positivity within the doom and gloom: 'I believe that you've got what it takes. I can see that your will won't break', and Yorkshire folk lasses O'Hooley & Tidow contribute the atmospheric The Hum, a song already out there, the title track of their outstanding 2014 album, and different from most of the rest of the songs in that it tells the narrative of the experiences of a couple pulling out from a property sale because of the perceived hum of a factory and the associated working classness of the area.
 
As befits such a project, all profits will be diverted to one of the proliferating political-activist sites that are proliferating in this social media age.
Jeff Hemmings