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May 30, 2019 School of Language By Christopher Roberts

School of Language is the side-project of David Brewis of Field Music (which is a duo with his brother Peter Brewis) and now he has surprise-released 45, a new album about Donald Trump and, as a press release puts it, “his dubious rise in politics, his capricious behavior while in office, and the motley cast of characters he has surrounded himself with.” A portion of the proceeds (£1 from each digital purchase of the album on Bandcamp) will go to Planned Parenthood and The Alliance for Choice in Northern Ireland. The album is out now digitally via Memphis Industries and is timed to Trump’s state visit to the UK in early June. A physical release will come later in the year. Stream it below.

45 is School of Language’s third album, following 2008’s Sea From Shore and 2014’s Old Fears. The album was written and recorded over the course of two months at Field Music’s studio in Sunderland, England. A press release says it was “inspired by Bob Woodward’s book Fear, articles in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and The New York Times and by Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.” Musically it was “also inspired by James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, The Meters, Otis Redding and Free.”

Brewis had this to say about the album in a press release: “For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by U.S. politics and that fascination became an obsession in the run up to the 2016 election. It really made me wonder as to whether I had any understanding of people whatsoever. It feels like Trump’s success has rendered in perfect detail every fault line in Western democracy - how profile beats policy, how corporate interests overwhelm the needs of ordinary people and how ethics and the rule of law are at the mercy of partisanship. To be honest, I could probably have written twice as many songs such is the wealth of scarcely believable material surrounding the Trump administration. It’s like King Lear populated by the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Here in the UK, I feel far enough removed that I can turn my revulsion into satire. I don’t think I could do the same with Brexit. It’s too close.”

45 Tracklist:

1. I’ve Got The Numbers
2. Nobody Knows
3. A Beautiful Wall
4. Rocket Man
5. Rex
6. The Goldwater Rule
7. Adult In The Room
8. And Even If I Did
9. Lock Her Up
10. The Best People

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