{"id":6937,"date":"2021-10-04T17:24:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T16:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=6937"},"modified":"2021-10-04T17:24:55","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T16:24:55","slug":"the-specials-are-still-getting-their-message-across-with-new-album-protest-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=6937","title":{"rendered":"The Specials are still getting their message across with new album Protest Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALBUM REVIEW: The Specials – Protest Songs 1924-2012 (Island Records)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Specials<\/a><\/strong> probably surprised even themselves when Encore<\/em>, their first album for 18 years, gave them their first UK No 1 in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they enjoyed the experience so much that they’re having another tilt at late-career success with this follow-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally emerging in the late 1970s as the multi-racial flagship of the 2-Tone movement, they sang about racism, unemployment and injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still relevant<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, more than 40 years later, the world is still awash with social, racial and political unrest, which makes their message just as relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This album is a very different beast to what The Specials planned to make when they gathered in February 2020, just before lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"the
Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter of The Specials.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A reggae record was planned, then covid hit Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter, and they were forced to put their plans on hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After George Floyd’s murder and the waves of protest that followed, Hall suggested they make a different kind of record – a protest album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few of the core trio’s personal favourites are included, along with songs they unearthed after spending months seeking out suitable material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worthy addition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It quickly took on a life of its own, and even though all 12 tracks are cover versions, it’s a more-than-worthy addition to their canon of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It opens with their take on Freedom Highway<\/em>, a song by the Staple Singers which was written for the US freedom marches in the ’60s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hall is joined on vocals by young Bradford singer-songwriter Hannah Hu, who also guests elsewhere on the album, and it’s a joyous, upbeat opener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"the
Bradford singer Hannah Hu guests on The Specials’ album. Pic: Gary Welford.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, Leonard Cohen’s Everybody Knows<\/em> is a bleak choice hand-picked by Hall (who else?). Its lyric “old black Joe’s still picking cotton for your ribbons and bows” still resonates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another downbeat number, Chip (Wild Thing) Taylor’s Fuck All Those Perfect People<\/em>, is the most recent song, dating from 2012. But, as the title suggests, some picks date back almost a century. Some are well known, others more obscure, but all carry important messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyrical clout<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Few carry the lyrical clout of poet Rod McKuen’s anti-war anthem Soldiers Who Want To Be Heroes<\/em>, while Golding’s genial handling of bluesman Big Bill Broonzy’s Black, Brown And White<\/em> rightfully reclaims it from the National Front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hu emerges as a talent worth watching on Talking Heads’ Listening Wind<\/em>, where she takes lead vocals, and as well as post-punk there’s blues, country, folk and psychedelic rock, but not a ska song in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nearest we get is Golding’s stripped-bare take on Bob Marley’s rebel reggae classic Get Up, Stand Up<\/em>, one of the album’s highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"the
Lynval Golding of The Specials. Pic: Gary Welford.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another standout moment is the traditional spiritual Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us Around<\/em>, performed partly a capella, with just handclaps for accompaniment and great gospel-style harmonies, before the full band kicks in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll admit I expected this record to be much feistier, but I guess The Specials are older, wiser and generally less angry now than they were in the late ’70s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That doesn’t mean they don’t care, they’ve just found a different way of expressing themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protest Songs<\/em> 1924-2012<\/em> moves even further away from ska than Encore<\/em>, but if, like me, you’re just glad to have The Specials back and making new music, I think you’ll like this. 8\/10.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: GIG REVIEW: The Specials, O2 City Hall, Newcastle Monday, 20 September 2021<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ALBUM REVIEW: The Specials – Protest Songs 1924-2012 (Island Records)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,9,10,120],"tags":[2233,2238,2205,2206,2209,690,2204,539],"class_list":["post-6937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-review","category-alternative","category-reggae-ska","category-ska","tag-bob-marley","tag-hannah-hu","tag-horace-panter","tag-lynval-golding","tag-protest-songs","tag-talking-heads","tag-terry-hall","tag-the-specials"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Specials are still getting their message across with new album Protest Songs |<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Specials had their first UK No 1 album with Encore in 2019. 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Now a new album, Protest Songs \u2013 1924-2012, will see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Music News"","block_context":{"text":"Music News","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"the specials","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Specials-2021.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Specials-2021.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Specials-2021.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Specials-2021.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-Specials-2021.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6866,"url":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=6866","url_meta":{"origin":6937,"position":1},"title":"The Specials show they’re still angry and relevant","author":"Gary Welford","date":"21st September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"GIG REVIEW: The Specials, O2 City Hall, Newcastle, Monday, 20 September 2021 Back in April 2009, I was one of the lucky 2,000 packed into the O2 Academy across the city for the opening night of The Specials' 30th anniversary tour. 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This gig was part of a tour dubbed '40 Years of Ghost Town', so I guess\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gig Review"","block_context":{"text":"Gig Review","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"neville staple","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/neville-staple2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/neville-staple2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/neville-staple2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/neville-staple2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/neville-staple2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2874,"url":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=2874","url_meta":{"origin":6937,"position":3},"title":"No Change: Why Stiff Little Fingers’ second album Nobody’s Heroes is still a classic as it celebrates its 40th birthday","author":"Gary Welford","date":"7th March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Nobody's Heroes, the second album which many Stiff Little Fingers fans think tops even their incendiary debut, was unleashed on the public 40 years ago today. I was a 13-year-old who had played catch-up with the band's first couple of years, after dropping pop music for punk when I went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Album Review"","block_context":{"text":"Album Review","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nobodys-heroes-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C938&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nobodys-heroes-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C938&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nobodys-heroes-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C938&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nobodys-heroes-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C938&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/nobodys-heroes-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C938&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1982,"url":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=1982","url_meta":{"origin":6937,"position":4},"title":"Elisa Dixan brings a fresh new sound to the reggae songs of Los Fastidios","author":"5par5kin5","date":"22nd December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"SINGLE REVIEW: Elisa Dixan Sings Los Fastidios Volume 2 (Kob Records) Los Fastidios are a long established ska\/streetpunk band from Italy and Elisa Dixan is their tour manager (and co-owner of their label, Kob Records). Since 2018 she has featured as a guest vocalist during live shows, and last December\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reggae"","block_context":{"text":"Reggae","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ELISA-DIXAN-SINGS-LOS-FASTIDIOS-VOL.-2-cover.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ELISA-DIXAN-SINGS-LOS-FASTIDIOS-VOL.-2-cover.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ELISA-DIXAN-SINGS-LOS-FASTIDIOS-VOL.-2-cover.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ELISA-DIXAN-SINGS-LOS-FASTIDIOS-VOL.-2-cover.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ipamusic.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/ELISA-DIXAN-SINGS-LOS-FASTIDIOS-VOL.-2-cover.jpg?fit=1195%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2657,"url":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=2657","url_meta":{"origin":6937,"position":5},"title":"Discharge release 40th anniversary double album which shows exactly why they’re punk and metal legends","author":"Gary Welford","date":"21st February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"ALBUM REVIEW: Discharge \u2013 Protest And Survive: The Anthology (BMG) Like them or loathe them, there's no denying the place of Discharge in the pantheon of punk. 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