MP3 | Erin McKeown — ‘The Jailer’

November 20, 2012 by Alan Pedder in Blog, Free Downloads

Inspired by a visit to the Mexican border with Arizona

For her new album Manifestra – the follow-up to 2009′s Hundreds Of Lions (excluding last year’s F*ck That! anti-holiday album, that is) – Erin McKeown has attempted to bring together “her political and musical selves” with a lush, vibrant set of songs created with friends and funded by her fans. Grounded by layered percussion and punctuated by bursts of horns, ‘The Jailer’ is a bright and lively creation that carries a serious message about the nature of power and the consequences of control (“In his secret heart the jailer knows / how like he is his prisoners / though he sleeps on finest sheets / his dreams will make him nervous”).

Speaking to NPR, Erin had this to say about the track:

“Last year, I took a trip to Nogales, Arizona to see the wall being built between the U.S. and Mexico. I was struck by how it appeared to be a violent spine rising out of the beautiful desert. While standing next to it, I asked our guide, a local charter school teacher, why the wall was made of long columns of steel set close to each other, not a solid surface like other borders I’d seen. “They built it so the water could get through,” he said. This got me thinking about the toll a wall takes on the hearts of those it divides and on the soul of the builder of the wall.”

Manifestra is released on January 15 through Erin’s own TVP Records. Catch her playing at London’s tiny Green Note on February 5 – but be quick as only a few tickets remain!