FEATURE:
Heavy Weather
PHOTO CREDIT: @jontyson/Unsplash
Musicians and Global Climate Change
___________
I was reading an article…
PHOTO CREDIT: Markus Spiske/Unsplash
that appeared on the Pitchfork website that got me thinking. I think, at the moment, a lot of the music coming out is very personal and does not really look out at the wider world. That is perfectly fine. This is how music has been for decades. I feel a lot of artists are becoming more aware and conscious of politics and wider society. Last year saw #BlackLivesMatter sweep the globe following the murder of George Floyd. There are a few artists documenting climate change and its impact on the planet. I wonder, as it is the biggest threat to the planet that we have to tackle, whether more artists need to address a catastrophe that could wreak incredible damage – beyond the depletion and destruction that we have already witnessed. I want to splice in a few portions of the Pitchfork. It raises some interesting points and asks what musicians can do regarding climate change:
“Spend enough time with climate-inspired music, and you sense a larger philosophical struggle playing itself out, with artists taking as many divergent directions as there are coping mechanisms for bad feelings. Fancy a black joke? Maybe you should listen to Matmos’ 2019 album Plastic Anniversary, in which every sound is sourced from plastic materials. In the mood for a glamorous bit of end-of-days nihilism about it all? This is what Billie Eilish provides with her invocation of burning hills in California on “all the good girls go to hell,” and what Lana Del Rey offers, to an extent, when she sings, “The culture is lit/And if this is it/I had a ball” on 2019’s “The greatest.”
The artists doing that considering, and their vantage point, has a heavy bearing on their approach. On 2018’s “Our Street Is a Black River,” Laurie Anderson joined the Kronos Quartet to remember, in her cool, bemused tone—forever the sound of the woman next to you in the elevator who speaks to you out of nowhere—what it felt like to watch as the “sparkling black river crossed the park, and then the highway, and then came silently up our street” from her vantage point in downtown NYC when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012. Anderson observed the chaos with childlike wonder: “From above, Sandy was a huge swirl that looked like galaxies whose names I didn’t know,” she murmured, the danger and portent lost in the flash of the light.
Singer-songwriter Natalie Mering, who records as Weyes Blood, explored the idea of hope amid apocalypse on 2019’s Titanic Rising. Over dreamy evocations of Laurel Canyon folk, she sang of “a million people burnin’” in a placid register. The album closes with a brief instrumental track titled “Nearer to Thee,” a reference to the hymn that the string quartet purportedly played from the deck of the Titanic as it sank. For the cover, she built a replica of her childhood bedroom, submerged it in a pool, then dove in and swam around. The final image is oddly serene: Mering gazes at us questioningly, her hair drifting upward while everything else—the bed sheets, the pillows, the teddy bear and trophies—stays put, affixed in place by set designers in scuba gear. The image was half publicity stunt and half private reckoning, as if Mering were conducting a controlled experiment: How would it feel to watch life as we knew it slip beneath the waves?”.
A clutch of electronic artists and composers have turned to the sound the Earth itself is making, as if trying to catch the planet in the act of moaning. This is the naturalist’s approach, and you can hear it play out across a wide range of compositions. As Pitchfork’s Philip Sherburne has noted, experimental musicians from across the globe have found ways to reckon with environmental destruction: Joseph Raglani’s 2018 album Extinctions features buzzing sounds from our globally collapsing insect population, while AGF’s Commissioned Work, from 2019, samples the cries of endangered lemurs. As fracking and deforestation threaten the Amazon, field musicians are weaving frog calls and rainfall into bucolic electronic music some call eléctrica selvática, or “rainforest electro. “There’s a sense of urgency to connect with organic sounds and recognize that we are part of this natural world,” said the Argentinian composer Pedro Canale, who records as Chancha via Circuito.
The tougher question, as always, is what all of this music might help us do, if indeed music can help us do anything concrete at all. The link between music and action is as elusive as the one between actions and consequences, or between feeling and doing. Although every activist movement needs some sort of inciting anthem, some sort of glue to help bring common purpose, such pieces of music usually emerge naturally, chosen by people. Music designed for collective action rarely works that way.
Music designed for memorial or grief, however, almost always does. Like music, grief asks nothing of us other than to feel it. The music that taps into these stiller waters tends to plumb deeper, more mysterious emotions that might, in fact, lead us to act out of our own private sense of volition”.
Those last points are especially relevant. I don’t think, if musicians are trying to get us to do something in a sort of preachy way, people will react proactively. If we present this grief and destruction as fact, then I think that has a more profound impact. In terms of music, if there was a song calling for action and asking us to all make a change, how well would this work in terms of the population pledging more time to fighting climate change?! If a song, on the other hand, lays out the truth and a listener is not being prodded or blamed, then that might have a more powerful result! Hectoring is tempting when we are seeing such horrific climate change. It is clear that music can be a hugely influential tool regarding awareness and reaction. I don’t think there is enough music out there at the moment that documents climate change. Some might say it is neither the role of a musicians or particularly appealing for the listener. I feel, regardless of gender, class or genre, artists have a responsibility to talk about big themes. In terms of a listening experience, the songs needn’t be too heavy or morose. As Pitchfork explained, a range of artists have approached climate change in different ways – whether it is more of a sonic soundscape or vivid lyrics being embedded into tracks.
It is encouraging to see some artists highlighting climate change or lending their name to important causes. Declan McKenna contributed to the recent Climate Live event. NME explain more:
“Declan McKenna performed ‘British Bombs’ outside the Houses of Parliament last weekend as part of a ‘Climate Live’ event. You can see footage of the performance below.
The performance, which took place on Saturday (April 24), was part of an international event to raise awareness of climate change around the world.
Elsewhere across the globe, fans will be able to see performances from the likes of Milky Chance, rising German star LEEPA and Japanese singer songwriter Anly.
A statement explained: “Led by members of Friday for Future youth climate groups, who organise the school strikes started by Greta Thunberg and supported by Music Declares Emergency, Greenpeace and many more, ‘Climate Live’ is bringing artists, activists and young people from across the world together through music to unite in the fight for climate justice and the race to safeguard the future of the planet”.
Whilst there is an issue with a lack of songs tackling the crisis, it seems that there is a charge coming from musicians in terms of their carbon footprints. From the use of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to virtual gigs, it seems that measures are in place so that we do not see a return to massive worldwide gigs pre-pandemic. The Guardian explained more in a feature from earlier in the week:
“But a series of announcements last week, coordinated by the Music Declares Emergency collective, have challenged the idea that the industry is not taking the climate emergency seriously. After a uniquely difficult year for those in live music, perhaps this is an inflection point: can the recovery from Covid-19 be green?
“The music industry has the opportunity to lead here,” says Lewis Jamieson, a spokesman for Music Declares Emergency. “It can become the exemplar of a green recovery, and help the public to understand and support what that idea means.”
British independent label Ninja Tune has just announced ambitious and detailed plans in response to the new sustainability drive from the European Independent Music Companies Association. The label’s funds and pensions are divested from fossil fuels, it is installing renewable energy systems in its London headquarters and it is encouraging the pressing plants that supply its vinyl to switch to green energy.
Beggars Group, which includes indie labels such as 4AD, XL and Rough Trade, also announced major new carbon reduction commitments this week. Across the manufacturing and distribution of vinyl and CDs, digital distribution, and business travel, the group aims to cut their emissions almost in half by 2030, at a rate they say is aligned with the Paris agreement’s goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Head of sustainability Will Hutton says that “the arts have an immensely powerful platform to help ignite social and legislative change. We need everyone involved – the live sector, record companies, streaming partners, and of course artists.”
Musician, composer, producer … Brian Eno
One new idea – also announced this week, and affiliated with Brian Eno – is Earth Percent, which is aiming to raise $100m (£72m) by 2030 from the industry itself to transition towards sustainability. The proposal is for artists, companies and individuals to commit a small percentage of their revenue to Earth Percent, which will redistribute the money to organisations working on the climate emergency, including those focused on the music industry, such as A Greener Festival, Music Declares Emergency and Julie’s Bicycle.
“This is the time to shake up how things are done across the industry,” says Sarah Ditty, head of programs at Earth Percent. “We need to be looking at how live shows, touring, recording, streaming, merchandise and engaging fans can function in a way that ensures artists and their teams can make a good living while minimising environmental impact”.
There are great charities one can support and look up when it comes to climate change. It would be unrealistic to have most artists writing about climate change and global warning. I feel, right now, there is relatively little exposure and documentation in music. Perhaps that will change in the months to come. Let’s hope so. After such a difficult past year or so, one can forgive artists for being in a different headspace or having new priorities regarding material. As we start to emerge from lockdown, I think there is going to be this desire to hear more from artists regarding the environment and escalating climate change. Not to say that this music will lead to huge and instant worldwide change, though I feel raising greater awareness and getting the listener to think more deeply is a great! Anything that can be done to provide awesome music and make people think at the same time is…
A good thing.