Many, myself included, have decried the fact that, for a long time, music seemed to shy away from what it has always been uniquely positioned to do. Music, and art in general, once it has found its audience, finds itself with a singular, devoted, and perfect platform to speak to like-minded people, share thoughts and ideas, and form bonds. Yet for the last couple of decades, it seems to have steered clear of complex subjects such as politics and policy, social commentary, equal rights issues, and the like.
But not anymore. In the last few years, we have reached that boiling point where people are increasingly willing to use their music to say what is really on their mind. What was a self-aggrandising and shallow place is be transformed into a voice increasingly advocating descension, dissendence and distancing from the status quo.
Midniter is one of the many voices leading that sonic charge and “Alarmist” is a warning of where the USA, and hence the world in general (where America goes, the world follows) is heading. It speaks of authoritarianism and right-wing extremism, of blind faith in populist leaders and the spectre of fascism rising in our midst. And, as proof that the “protest song” doesn’t have to take the form of shouty punk rhetoric or reactionary acoustic singer-songwriters, we are given a song that runs on pulsing synth rhythms, stark piano spaciousness, and vocals that range from a breathy whisper to a banshee wail.
60’s folkies, Conscious soulsters, hip-hop pioneers, punk firebrands, they have all raised their voice and set their sights on the injustices of the world, and now, thanks to artists such as Midniter, the alt-pop world is helping to turn the volume up, speak truth to power and builing an alternative narrative to the one that seems to be currently white washing the world.
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