New Music: Kat Five – Emergency Start

As the UK has gone through a few tumultuous weeks, London-based musician Kat Five rings the alarm with Emergency Start.

The track literally does this by incorporating sounds associated with emergencies, such as sirens and alarms, to heighten the tension both within the music and for the listener. Weaving those into an electronic arrangement that dances between punk, rave, and dub, Kat Five makes a passionate plea for people to push back against malign forces in online and daily life.

Emergency Start isn’t just about alerting people; it gives concrete examples of how to assert our independence, drawing from a background of art activism and inspired by the Hard Art Collective within the lyrics:

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Write the poem
Write the song
Make the banner
Release your anger

“Culture is a mighty way to inspire and unite people, and we need it more than ever to help combat the horrors of the current world, and build new alternatives,” says the artist. “This is a call out to all kinds of creators, and also a shout out for some simple moves you can make against techno-feudalism.”

“Already this year we’ve seen a new Mutual Defiance Day, which I loved contributing music to, and I’m excited about the new Nothing But Love music movement which launched at the Together march.”

Kat Five appears at The Font in Brighton on 14th May as part of Kick Out The Jams’ Brighton Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus. Emergency Start can be downloaded on Bandcamp and streamed on Spotify. You can connect with Kat Five on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and BlueSky.

Header photo by Jenn Webb