Below are some musical and visual highlights I’ve discovered… Hope you enjoy. Until the next time!

Kimbra

FAVOURITE NEW ALBUMS & OLD SCHOOL RESURGENCES

• Hidden Treasures Lioness: Amy Winehouse
• The Stepkids
• Digits - Timothy Armstrong
• Dreams Of Water - Happy Body Slow Brain
• The Best Of Billie Holiday: Summertime - Billie Holiday
• Soundtrack to Inglorious Basterds
• Cerulean - Baths

NEW FAVOURITE LIVE BAND

• Mini Mansions
• The Descendants
• My Week With Marilyn
• BBC 4 Part Documentary: ‘Inside The Human Body’ (Okay so I didn’t cry as such but I did get teary at just how incredibly complex and beautifully designed the human body is, it’s emotional stuff!)
• The Lion King (always)…

patience
patience
her time will come

broken queen of sheba
a promise written on her bones
africa arise
she will show them what she knows
I saw a vision
and it won’t let me go
patience
patience
she will reap all that she sows

sing out
from mount entoto
where the teff grass grows high
and the barley burns in the hands of black widows

where the children laugh
and stain the land
with hope and a future yet unknown
patience
patience
they shall reap what they sow

preparing the land for a great harvest
deep roots will penetrate the virgin land
she has been waiting for a lover to come
pure and forgiven

christ took the debt
bloodshed on the mountain
holy water won’t heal the wounds
but the scarred hands of love will make all things new

we are the hands and feet
reaching out to the forgotten many
creased skin and hollow eyes
small peaking portals to a sky

light spews through the cracks
good news carried for miles on her back
fire wood, bricks, candles and stone
she fights her way
she fights all alone

this is where the women cry
then wipe their salt away with a smile
shackles on their twisted ankles
heirs of a lost heritage
now they come to claim back a royal mess
but it returns as a message
a fragmented gospel
a woman by the well
beggars hands turn to blessing
the land rejoices in her kiss

this is where the untouchables unite
where they kneel and go to pray
god hears their song
while the priests push them away
high on a mountain
close to heavens eye
sleep brings solace
on the dirty ground they lie
in a mud hut their temples rise out of the dust

‘don’t lay your hands on us’ they cry
hush hush sisters
we softly proclaim
the face of grace holds no condemnation
no one will break the bond of mother ethiopia
and her children of god
apple of queen sheba’s eye
emperor’s descendants
africa’s delight

this is where the first woman rose
from the ancient homo sapien throne
we are the hands and the feet
once primitive and mute
now alive and speaking truth
justice held inside a shaking fist
let it pour out from the holy eucharist
see the veil is now torn and all are called
to break bread and step out from the shadows
now there are no gates and no walls

oh ethiopia
cradle of mankind
womb of humanity
gods very own spine

she breaks but is not broken
a new seed is soon to grow
patience
patience
she will reap what she has sown

beggars hands turn to blessing
they will lead her to the new morrow
the stones and trees will cry out if we do not
singing will burst out from the sorrow
so let us lift voices and write a glory song
be not troubled for hope is here

africa arise
there are new children to bear
for now there is no male no female no black no white
only love in the body of a broken christ

patience
patience
her time has come
no longer will she be wronged
this war has been won
now follow in the footsteps of a people strong
ancient, proud, where you belong
beggars hands turn to blessing
the eye that see’s becomes the heart that knows
soon she will reap all that she has sown

join voices from mount entoto
sing loud across the land
redemption
redemption
from the dust and the sand
glory has been bestowed
queen of sheba shines
on the land of scorched faces
carrying torches to the cross
the burden of a hundred generations

oh ethiopia
the broken bride
veiled in a vision and a promise
justice inside that shaking fist
heartbeat of the pulsing river Nile
from the summit of pain
births a new bloodline
no longer does she live in shame

we are the hands and the feet
this is where we come to speak
to touch and place our fingers in the palms
and reach through the wounded holes
find new beauty out of the burning charcoal

sweet ethiopia
a promise has begun
a good work started and a war that will be won
africa arise
beggars hands turn to blessing
lead us out of the corrupt and the carnal mind
send us a spirit not of division but of one
one love
one sun
a shining light for the world

oh ethiopia
the beautiful broken queen
she is calling
she is rising
we join hands and sing from mount entoto
glory
glory
shine on
we sing for the children
so the story shall be known

“When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness,” the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.“  

A short letter to Harvey Weinstein on behalf of the women who were devalued and manipulated by your actions,

Everybody knows, about what you do

Everybody saw, and sold the truth

I was young and gullible

But baby I grew

Now the whole world’s watching you.

I drew on a lot of things when writing the song ‘Everybody Knows’ but it would be untrue to say there was no reference to times in my life where I have felt reduced and disrespected by the actions of men who had more influence, power and ability to steer a situation in the direction of their benefit.  Like many women, at times I have felt my value as an artist reduced by the assumption that my personal worth was epitomized by my body, and my willingness to play along with those in more powerful positions.  We need accountability in our places of work. We need men standing up when they see other men devalue women. 

One of the hardest lines to sing and write in this song for me was….. ‘is it a fight worth fighting?‘ 

I believe this has been a question that women have asked themselves for years as they endured circumstances that devalued them. They feared what was at stake if they spoke out. I have heard my female musician friends tell me story after story of being disrespected at a studio or receiving physical touch where it was not wanted. I count myself included in this experience. Countless times I have been presented with a situation where I have to make infinitely clear where I stand on a romantic / sexual level so I can be respected as a professional artist and focus on the task at hand. I have attended business meetings at record labels and exchanged numbers with men of high influence after a productive, positive meeting with the thought that it would benefit my career to maintain my networks only to receive a text after midnight that night while I’m with my boyfriend at the time, asking ‘what r u up 2′. Countless times I have, like many women, wondered where and how to draw a line, is it a fight worth fighting? A flirty text message that means nothing to a man could end up meaning or risking EVERYTHING to a woman. 

We then feel shame that they may have 'led someone on’ even if we were incredibly clear that we were there to WORK. Why should women be doubted in the first place for that? Together I believe we can change the culture within our workplaces. But this will only change when there is equality established. Equality eliminates the power play. It demands respect. When there is respect, both parties listen and see eachother as professionals, not as objects to be attained or intimidated. Equality demands that both women and men are given the opportunity to be paid according to the work they have put in, not according to their gender which continues to reinforce outdated ideas around the role of women and their worth in the workplace. 

We will not have accountability until women are earning the same as men for doing the same work, until women are in positions of power in places like the film industry, the music industry, the law firms, the government… we will not see change until there are women who can speak to the culture from a position of EQUAL worth and EQUAL influence. 

I feel so fortunate to do what I do and to have such creative control over my career. I hear stories all the time of artists who are not given this, they are told what to wear, what to sing, what to say, how to be most profitable for someone else’s benefit. I promised myself that I would not play into that game, but it meant I had to create a culture within the people I worked with. And it doesn’t mean that I haven’t faced situations where I felt immense pressure.On a shoot with a stylist (from the Magazine - both will remain unnamed), I began to express some concerns around an outfit, but was reassured that 'the main thing that matters is that you look cute so guys will want to f*** you’. I swore it wouldn’t happen again and now create my own team for shoots and make it very clear that although I am proud of my body and am happy to 'look cute’ for my own enjoyment and others, it is outrageously disrespectful to think that my main concern at a photoshoot should be only to appear sexually desireable. People do photoshoots & features on me, because I am a MUSICAN, an ARTIST and a VOICE first. The rest is secondary. 

As a producer also in this industry, I have often been doubted for my ability as a technician and engineer then proved myself countless times to be the fastest Protools user in the whole room. I have experienced assumptions made that I am just the 'singer’ and had to work twice as hard to gain respect as a credible technical voice in the room (later becoming nicknamed 'Eagle Ears’ at the studio’s I work at).

If we continue to feed this culture of assumption, women will not only veer from taking roles in the more 'male dominated’ industries for fear of being doubted or not give the same opportunities, but they will also settle for less and fall victim to circumstances where they are promised opportunities in exchange for their self respect.When we learn that women are consistently being paid less than men across the board, we reinforce and permit a preconceived assumption that there is less value to the work of a women, this feeds into a culture that allows for women to be easily seen as objects rather than equals. We must fight for equality in the fields we work within. Would Harvey Weinstein have continued to get away with these crude acts if there had been a more balanced display of women and men at the top ranks? We must speak out, but we must also speak to the structures in place. 

I don’t really talk around these things often but I can’t deny my responsibility to offer my voice as a woman in a largely male dominated industry, I am not only working everyday in a line of work that often makes the assumption I am less capable, I have made it my goal each day to let my WORK speak for itself, but if we continue to undermine the work of women by saying it is worth less and therefore paying less than the same work of men, then we will never get to the true core of why these things continue to happen in industries where men abuse their positions of power.

Bodies alone, we hide in the dark

But is it a fight worth fighting?

Yes, it is. Will it cause trouble? Yes, it may. Will it put your job at risk? Very possible. Could it prove as a chance for you to speak to the structures and demand justice where there is so little? Definitely. Could it empower someone else to fight back for their self respect and speak out also? Yes. Could it cause other men to speak out in support and hold their fellow work friends accountable? Yes, and this is the only way we’ll create change. If we stand together on the same team, for women to be treated with equal respect and worth in their fields of work. I’m hopeful for the future. 

To Harvey Weinstein, the whole world’s watching you. So what will you do?

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0d3XbH12cs)