Emma Gee Flowers
Songs of Love and Defiance
(Self-Released)
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EMMA GEE FLOWERS is a singer-songwriter and musician as well as a committed socialist who has performed at many political events, notably the Matchwomen’s Festival in London, for the last two years. Whilst resisting the commercialisation of record labels she has produced a digital album of 21 songs with the appropriate title of Songs of Love and Defiance.

The album starts with Train to Cuba looking at the current situation in the USA with attacks on LGBT rights and others and looking at a destination where people facing attack may be welcome. Commentary on Trump’s America and the general rise of the far right runs throughout the album in songs like The Devil Wants His Soul and You Can’t Shoot the World which looks at school shootings in America in the context of reactionary politics overall but with a defiant refrain of “we ain’t gonna kneel.”

Living in Spain, Flowers pays tribute to those who fought against fascism but warns of their sacrifice being forgotten as fascists still try to find ways of seeking to divide through culture wars. But the final track A Better Way brings the themes together in pointing out that despite technological development we are still as subject to exploitation by those in power as previous generations and no amount of commercialisation or talk of levelling up can disguise this.

A strongly political album with a feel of Americana it is now available on various streaming services including YouTube.