Out now from Brazilian-rockers-in-London Yur Mum: ‘Banana Republic’ is a driving rock anthem FFO QOTSA. Anelise Cunz Couto tells us:
“The lyrical style was inspired by how Brazilian artists in the 60s and 70s had to be creative to avoid censorship and persecution during the dictatorship period. Anyone who were opposed to the government could be abducted, arrested, tortured and even killed. Artists were being constantly monitored, so writers, journalists and musicians cleverly started writing political content disguised in articles or lyrics who seemed random and harmless. Being from Brazil the track reflects a bit of our experience and what we know about its history, past and present; the hypocrisy, colonialism, genocide, slavery, dictatorship, right wing populism, corruption, social inequality, inaction towards eco-disasters, climate change and even the pandemic. It’s a culture of sweeping the dirt under the rug and pretending everything is a party. Back to today, we’ve noticed the mainstream media has been sanitising and dumbing down music, which we think it’s a different form of censorship. Corporate interests are bending reality whilst governments are re-writing history. Perhaps there’s a bit of Banana Republic in every culture and we should talk about it.”
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