Homepage Splash
LOUD WOMEN unite for ‘Reclaim These Streets’ single for Women’s Aid
Collaborative single ‘Reclaim These Streets’ is a powerful statement of intent released today via UK collective LOUD WOMEN in aid of UK charity Women’s Aid. Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama, Shakespears Sister), Brix Smith (The Fall) and Patsy Stevenson (the face of the Clapham vigil) join more than 60 female vocalists for the charity single.
In the wake of the recent deaths of Blessing Olusegun and Sarah Everard, the collective behind the release, LOUD WOMEN, hopes to turn up the volume on current discussions on the issue of women’s safety. As the song says, “Until every woman is safe to walk on every street”.
The song was written by LOUD WOMEN’s founder, musician Cassie Fox, with a spoken word/rap section written and performed by Brix Smith. Instrumentation is provide by a female and non-binary supergroup with members of My Bloody Valentine, Salad and punk band T-Bitch. The contributing vocalists form a who’s who of women in the alternative music scene, including: Estella Adeyeri (Big Joanie), Janey Starling (ex-Dream Nails), Nadia Javed (The Tuts), Ren Aldridge (Petrol Girls), Debbie Smith (Curve/Echobelly), Jo Bevan (Desperate Journalist), Marijne ven der Vlugt (Salad) and many more – from the UK, USA, mainland Europe and Ireland.
Siobhan Fahey is of course familiar with the charity supergroup format – she was one of the very few women to have performed on the 1984 Band Aid single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’.
Brix Smith said of the project: “When I was asked to take part I said ‘absolutely!’, because when I thought about it, not a day has gone by when I’ve not felt scared to walk down the street. And that needs to change, for all of us.”
Patsy Stevenson said: “I wanted to join this project because I don’t know a single woman who hasn’t been sexually harassed or abused in her lifetime.”
Cassie Fox said: “I wrote this song out of rage and frustration. Two women a week are killed by men. Refuge services are having to turn away one in two survivors of violence. And yet refuge funding has been cut by one quarter since 2010. This is a song of feminist solidarity and hope – all women and gender non-conforming people have a right to walk safely on every street, and be safe in their own home.”
Supporters are urged to visit www.loudwomen.org/reclaimthesestreets to buy/stream the song and donate to the Women’s Aid appeal.
A live performance of the song is planned at LOUD WOMEN Fest, on 18 Sept 2021 at London’s 229 Portland Street venue. Full info and tickets at www.loudwomen.org/fest