UK collective LOUD WOMEN have released a single, Reclaim These Streets, as a powerful statement of intent.
More than 60 female vocalists lend their voices to the song, which is raising money for Women’s Aid.
They are led by Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama/Shakespears Sister), Brix Smith Start (The Fall/Brix & The Extricated) and Patsy Stevenson (the face of the Clapham vigil).
LOUD WOMEN hopes to turn up the volume on discussions about women’s safety after the recent deaths of Blessing Olusegun and Sarah Everard.
Women’s safety
As the song says, it will continue to highlight the issue “until every woman is safe to walk on every street”.
LOUD WOMEN’s founder, Cassie Fox, wrote the song, with the spoken word/rap section from Brix Smith Start.
Instrumentation is provide by a female and non-binary supergroup containing members of My Bloody Valentine, Salad and punk band T-Bitch.
The list of contributing vocalists reads like a ‘who’s who’ of women in the alternative music scene.
They include Estella Adeyeri (Big Joanie), Janey Starling (ex-Dream Nails), Nadia Javed (The Tuts), Ren Aldridge (Petrol Girls), Debbie Smith (Curve/Echobelly), Jo Bevan (Desperate Journalist), Marijne ven der Vlugt (Salad) and many more.
Siobhan Fahey was one of the few female contributors to the 1984 Band Aid single Do They Know It’s Christmas.
Brix Smith said: “When I was asked to take part I said ‘absolutely!’, because when I thought about it, not a day has gone by when I’ve not felt scared to walk down the street. And that needs to change, for all of us.”
Patsy Stevenson said: “I wanted to join this project because I don’t know a single woman who hasn’t been sexually harassed or abused in her lifetime.”
Rage and frustration
Cassie Fox said: “I wrote this song out of rage and frustration. Two women a week are killed by men. Refuge services are having to turn away one in two survivors of violence. Yet refuge funding has been cut by a quarter since 2010.
“This is a song of feminist solidarity and hope. All women and gender-non-conforming people have a right to walk safely on every street, and be safe in their own home.”
Visit www.loudwomen.org/reclaimthesestreets to buy/stream the song and donate to the Women’s Aid appeal.
Cassie Fox founded LOUD WOMEN in 2015, in frustration at the lack of opportunities for female-driven bands in grassroots music.
It has put on live music nights and festivals featuring the best new music by women and non-binary musicians. It also has an active blog, ezine and social media communities.
LW has released several compilations of music by female-led artists. It now has chapters around the world (NYC, LA, Nashville, Canada, Ireland and Australia).
