Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson has said 'the damage has already been done' after the pair released a new song criticising the state of life in the UK. Sleaford Mods have announced their new album ‘UK Grim’, with the pessimistic follow-up to the Nottingham duo’s 2021 album ‘Spare Ribs’ due for release in March.
The album's title track, which acts as a gloomy expression of the problems the UK faces, has already proved popular. The song has accompanying visuals from the frequently viral political artist Cold War Steve, mentions Vladimir Putin, short-lived Prime Minister Liz Truss, and has bleak lyrics like "in England nobody can hear you scream".
Singer Jason Williamson shared his thoughts on the song as a van displaying its surrealist music video toured through Nottingham on Wednesday, January 25 - just a day after it had journeyed around London. "It is quite surreal to see this out in the world. The message I wanted to get across is that the energy of life has been sapped up by ********," Jason said.
Read more: Nottingham's high street issues 'exacerbated' by Broad Marsh amid 93 empty shops
"We're now led by a prime minister who knows how to shut his mouth, so all the darkness is not seen to be making ripples. I do not think people up there care about what we do - we've been numbed by propaganda.
"It is a commentary on what I feel and what I am passionate about. We are not your archetypal popstars."
Jason said he had sensed discontent for the past twenty years, and laid the "horrible state" of the country at the Conservative party's door. "There are lots of people who cannot buy food and people that cannot get shelter. The UK is in a horrible state because the Tory party don't care about the fall out of their actions.
"It has been a dire couple of decades, from the early 00's I have felt that discontent. That's not to say we don't like aspects of the country, but it is just unfortunate that many of them are negatively impacted by the government and infrastructure.
"If you go out into the countryside it is beautiful, the same is true of going to the seaside in summer. People do help each other, and by and large are good and kind."
Despite his acknowledgement of some of the more positive aspects of life in post-Covid Britain, Jason concluded there was not much hope for the future. He added: "If you travel around the world, like I have, you start to realise we are falling behind in progression.
"Things don't change - I don't want to be cynical about it all, I believe Labour would be a lot better but new tentacles seem to appear when parties take power.
"They [the Conservative government] do not care about people. A lot of people have now realised what the government is like, but we can't have too much sympathy - the damage has already been done."
Read next:
