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CMU Approved
Approved: Ebony Bones
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 26 June 2018
Ebony Bones recently announced the release of her third album, ‘Nephilim’, set for 20 Jul, putting out its title track at the same time. A collaboration with the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra, that first piece is an audacious return, with dense strings slowly encircling twitching beats. Its equally grand, self-directed video sees drones glide over snow-capped mountains.
We now have another track too. Taking a sonic and tonal shift, new single ‘No Black In The Union Jack’ is as highly politically charged as the title suggests.
Among various samples on the record is audio lifted from Enoch Powell’s infamous 1968 ‘Rivers Of Blood’ speech. “This hate speech was so vile, it has never been broadcast in full”, she says. “It is one of the most incendiary racist speeches of modern Britain and this year marks its 50th anniversary”.
In part, she uses the speech to contrast the modern political climate, explaining: “The new album explores themes including the emergence of nationalism in the world post-Brexit and Trump. Xenophobia, as well as fear of immigrants and foreigners, was strongly associated with support for leaving the EU; post-Trump and Brexit have created a hostile environment for immigrants, fanned by nationalist bile and scapegoating as displayed throughout these songs”.
The theme of censorship also runs throughout the album, something that began with her work with the orchestra in Beijing – which features on three other songs in addition to the title track. “Many people asked about recording in Beijing and censorship in China”, she says. “While I didn’t directly experience any, it got me thinking about all the ways in which censorship manifests itself in our culture”.
She goes on: “It takes on covert forms, like who gets to speak and who doesn’t get to speak, and all the ways we silence the voices of people we don’t want to hear. Beginning with the theme of religious censorship, I made ‘Nephilim’ conscious of the fact that these were not subjects females usually write about”.
Watch the video for ‘No Black In The Union Jack’ here:
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