This selection of covers running the gamut from Bob Marley to Frank Zappa proves a satisfying stop gap for the perennial activists
Waylaid by writers’ block and Covid, the Specials have been unable to make their planned Jamaican reggae follow-up to 2019’s Encore. So they’ve recorded some covers instead, shapeshifting through blues, folk, country and rock. It’s odd that most of the songs are
American, when this band are so good at delineating a particularly
British experience. And your definition of a protest song may be very different from theirs.
Related: The Specials: ‘Respect people. Be kind to people. What else have we got?’