New Release: Oh My Lord (What are we doing?)

Maroon Town, release their new single on July 21st. It has already been hailed as a classic ‘sound of summer’ track but it has a deeper message too.

Lyrically it is a lament about the senseless killing of innocent children in conflict situations*, in the great Jamaican tradition of social comment stemming back to the 1960’s and 1970’s and continued by the likes of the Specials in the 1980’s.

The new track “Oh My Lord”, remixed by the Original Gravity stable and available on their Bandcamp page features enigmatic singer Swami Muffin who Maroon Town founders Deuan and Rajan met on their recent travels. A man of very few words except when he sings.

Ever since their formation in the 1990’s eight-piece Maroon Town have never shied away from social commentary in their lyrics. They were the first band to fuse rap with ska rhythms. Early single “Pound to the Dollar” – also released on the Totally Wired compilation album from Acid Jazz Records was an acute attack on how migration fuelled the UK’s post war boom and bank-rolled the big financial institutions. This track gained airplay on the legendary John Peel’s show amongst others on Radio One.

The band’s first album was produced by the late great John Bradbury, the drummer of the legendary Specials, and this was then followed by five more albums and tours of Spain, Jamaica and India and many other international venues over a thirty five year career. As well as major venues they have played in prisons and schools around the world. This includes Kosovo where they met with women who had suffered personal trauma because of the war.

The band have played at Glastonbury and are to play legendary Boomtown festival on Friday the 10th August 2024.

Maroon Town’s last release “Bullitt” was adopted by BBC 6 Music’s Craig Charles Show as one of the singles of the year in 2022. Maroon Town continue to gig around the UK – including a European tour in November.

*”The world is currently experiencing more conflicts than ever before after World War 2 – and we are all too well aware of how children become “collateral damage” in these situations. Music should always reflect what’s going on in the wider world in the great tradition of protest songs”, in the view of Maroon Town.