On Friday, the day before playing their Melbourne farewell show, the Herd will launch their first single in 12 years. It will also be Elefant Traks’ last release.
Soul of My Soul features three Palestinian-Australian artists – Sereen, Mo and Big Rigs – and is inspired by Palestinian Khaled Nabhan, who lost his granddaughter Reem in an Israeli airstrike last November. She was sleeping in her bed in the Al Nuseirat refugee camp in southern Gaza.
A still from the Herd’s video for farewell song Soul of My Soul.Credit: Irisha Adnyana
The song is a fierce indictment of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, and longer-term treatment of Palestinians, told through the perspective of the Palestinian-Australian guest vocalists, and Herd rapper Levinson.
The Herd are well-known as one of the country’s most fearless political bands (one of their first singles was called Burn Down the Parliament), with their music regularly referencing the anti-war movement, climate change, racism and refugee policy. Since Israel’s invasion of Gaza the group’s members have been vocal in their solidarity with Palestinians.
At the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) music awards in Sydney in May, the group took to the stage, holding up a Palestinian flag and reciting the words of a Palestinian artist. The band says the performance was removed from all APRA channels, and was the only performance of the night not shared on APRA’s social media accounts.
In a statement provided to this masthead, an APRA AMCOS spokesperson said, “At no stage, did we remove any footage from our channels.”
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In a statement timed to coincide with the release of their single, the band slammed the Australian music industry’s “silence” on the war in Gaza.
“A sector that prides itself on being at the forefront of progressive movements, recognising the value of representation from different cultures, is strangely silent on a matter that the entire world is grappling with,” the band said.
Even though the band, and the label, are bowing out, they’re hoping to shatter that silence as they exit loudly.
“We thought it consistent for a label of artists which has spanned over 25 years to show some solidarity with the people trying to push up the needle on this terrible catastrophe,” said Levinson, whose family has Jewish heritage.
“If we don’t speak out, we are adding our silence to that catastrophe,” he said.
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