Maria Dunn has built her career around the kind of storytelling that sits at the heart of protest folk: songs about workers, marginalized communities, and the quiet resilience of ordinary people. Her latest album, Hardscrabble Hope, continues that tradition with a collection of deeply empathetic songs that blend political awareness with human-centered narratives.
Rather than delivering overt slogans, Hardscrabble Hope approaches protest through storytelling. Dunn focuses on individuals caught within larger systemsโworkers in extractive industries, people struggling with mental health, and communities facing social isolation. The albumโs title itself reflects this balance: it’s a hardscrabble path towards a better world – but we must remain hopeful.
One of the recordโs most direct social commentaries appears in โCoal Is a Thirsty Business,โ which examines the human and environmental costs of resource extraction. In 2020, the Alberta government repealed the 1976 Coal Policy that had long protected the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains from coal exploration and mining. The move sparked widespread opposition from citizens concerned about the environmental threats to the region, which supplies much of the provinceโs drinking water. With southwestern Alberta also facing severe drought in recent years, critics argue that coal mining could further strain already scarce water resourcesโsummed up by rancher Laura Laingโs warning that โcoal is a thirsty business.โ
Another track, โReach Out,โ addresses the growing crisis of mental health and suicide with deep compassion:
“Why is there money for our jails, countless legal wars But when it comes to healing minds, endless waits in corridors? When will we realize our greatest measureโs how we treat Someone asking for our help in their deepest need?” – from Reach Out
Another song that captures Dunn’s beautiful storytelling is “A Pill for a Broken Heart”, which highlights the experiences of people experiencing homelessness in Edmonton, Canada, inspired by Eric Riceโs video This is Where We Live. One participant recalls a psychiatrist explaining that many unhoused people are dealing with โbroken hearts,โ reflecting deep emotional trauma rather than something that can be fixed with medication. The text also notes that research shows people are more likely to experience homelessness if they faced childhood adversity such as neglect, abuse, domestic violence, parental addiction, or time in foster care.
โPekiwewin,โ which uses a Cree word meaning โcoming home,โ tells the story of an Indigenousโled relief camp in Edmonton that provides safety, care, and a sense of home for people experiencing homelessness.
Meanwhile, pieces like โMister Potterโ cover whistleblowing within the health care industry, and โAccordiona/Over the Hillsโ is a playful tribute to the patience and support of family, friends, and roommates who live withโand encourageโsomeone learning to play a noisy new instrument during lockdown.
Musically, Hardscrabble Hope expands Dunnโs acoustic folk foundation with brass, Celtic-influenced melodies, and warm ensemble arrangements produced by Shannon Johnson of The McDades. There’s a sense of communal spirit to the album – these songs sound like they’re meant to be sung as a group, as a community, and on the streets.
Ultimately, Hardscrabble Hope stands as a reminder that protest music does not always need to be loud. Dunnโs songs work through empathy, observation, and storytelling, illuminating the lived experiences behind political debates. By focusing on the dignity and resilience of everyday people, the album reinforces one of folk musicโs oldest traditions: giving voice to those whose stories too often go unheard.
What an awful year. A genocide continued to unfold in Gaza, over 20 million people are in desperate need of food and medical aid in the DRC, and the war in Sudan, now in its third year, is showing the rest of the world how truly horrific the human species can be – with systematic rape used as a weapon of war and over half a million people on the brink of starvation.
As the rest of the world watches these horrors unfold, the powerful don’t take even the slightest break. While breaking international rule of law, the president of the USA started the year off with a literal bang by doing what that government does best: dropping bombs and kidnapping a head of state. With no rest for the wicked, Trump then threatened to colonise Greenland. And in Iran, two weeks into 2026, thousands of people have been killed, largely by authorities, after protests erupted in the country in December.
The year is off to a rough start.
However, we can’t give up, and we can’t give in. While global media often focuses on the negative, we can’t forget that there are so many people dedicating every ounce of their being to protecting our environment, helping people in need, fighting poachers, reporting the truth under a rain of bombs – the list goes on.
Governments around the world are threatening artists with long, harsh prison sentences – yet they continue to sing; corporations are pressing criminal charges against people for rescuing animals from being murdered – yet they continue to save animals; people are being oppressed for their sexual orientation, colour of their skin, or religious beliefs – yet they continue to march in protest.
From Bulgaria to Nepal to Morocco, young people stood up to old powers and demanded immediate action – calling for better healthcare, more funding towards education, an end to corruption and impunity, and real environmental action.
We should all do what we can. Everything matters, and a thousand small actions amount to a big ball of kindness. In 2025, artists did what they do best: they analysed what was unfolding in front of their empathetic eyes, and they created music. Music that brings awareness, music that fights fascism, music that unifies.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it. Protest music never died. There is a plethora of protest musicians out there and plenty of independentmediacovering their work. And for further proof, check out our recently published list of top 40 protest songs of 2025 (a list DJ General Strike narrowed down from over 1,000 songs) and our Selected Protest Music of 2025 Playlist, which holds over 7 hours worth of revolutionary music.
We must stand in solidarity with everyone who is oppressed – whether that be our fellow humans, the animals, or Mother Earth herself. And we’ve got the music to go along with the resistance.
Below are ten examples, a few favourite albums of the friends and collaborators of Shouts.
This is music from the rooftops.
Contributing to this list were Salma Ahmed, Kevin Gosztola, Santiago Campodรณnico, Mat Ward, and Riley Rowe.
Armageddon In A Summer Dress by Sunny War
Sunny Warโs Armageddon in a Summer Dressis one of the beautiful tapestries that were woven this year. Warโs album captured many genres through its songs, and these genres were accompanied by diverse stories narrated in every song. She gives you hope and then takes it away, only to give it back again. Her songs about loneliness and poverty feel fitting for the times one finds themselves in. The same can be found in the songs that tried to fight against fascism and the corruption suffocating America.
Armageddon in a Summer Dress is the kind of album that stays with you even if months have passed since you first listened to it. You might catch yourself singing โBad times, stay awayโ without realising it. And when everything gets dark in the world around you, you start hoping that Warโs words, when she sings โBut you did it once before / I know youโll do it once more,โ will come true. Even if nothing changed, Warโs masterpiece would be the speck of hope convincing you that it is never too late.
Words by Salma Ahmed, contributing writer for Shouts โ Music from the Rooftops! Read her full review of the album here, and more of Salma’s articles can be found here.
Andrija Tokic did such a fabulous job producing, engineering, and mixing this record. It’s full-sounding, and without losing any edge, there’s an effervescence to Sunny War’s music as she provides a working-class soundtrack for late-stage capitalism. Standout track is “Walking Contradiction,” a collaboration with Crass co-founder Steve Ignorant.
The Viagra Boys’ newest album, viagr aboys, is an ironic, beautifully arranged, hilariously self-aware, crude, and profound meditation on contemporary life. Its power as a protest album lies in the band’s ability to point at the inherent absurdity and injustice of the systems that underpin everyday life, and either mock them, portray their consequences, or lament their effects.
Everything from the quick solutions often sold for coping with eating habits (with songs like Pyramid of Heath), to the unfocused and radical subgroups the precarious job market has created (Dirty Boyz), this album has something to say. Moreover, it says it concisely, backed by one of the most focused punk recordings of the decade. viagr aboys, like all great records, enters through the ears but sticks in the brain for what lies underneath the layers.
Words by Santiago Campodรณnico, contributing writer for Shouts โ Music from the Rooftops! More of Santiago’s articles can be found here.
รl by Mawiza
Since its British birth, metal music has been shaped, led, and seen as an art form of and for European and American crowds. And while artists from Brazil, Japan, or other cultural hubs have broken through the international veil, itโs often seen as a boundary-breaking statement to make metal music if youโre outside the norm of the aforementioned demographic. For example, Mawiza is a metal group based in the Mapuche Nation territory in Chile. They use their indigenous roots and musicalities to make very distinct and powerful music, chanting in their Mapuzungun dialect and riffing in earthy rhythms. With a guest feature by Gojira and praise from the likes of Slipknot to Mastodon, รl by Mawiza is a stunning example of a protest album, not only for bringing awareness and legitimacy to metal music made by indigenous people, but also for the anti-logging and decolonization messages in certain songs. If your interest is piqued by folk-groove metal like The Hu or Sepultura, enjoy this album, mastered by Alan Douches (Converge, Chelsea Wolfe).
Samora Pinderhughes is a US composer, pianist, vocalist, and multidisciplinary artist who, in collaboration with The Healing Project, a community-engaged arts initiative he leads, released a very special mixtape this year. Black Spring honours the 100 years since the birth of writer and activist James Baldwin, connecting Baldwinโs legacy to contemporary struggles. The work blends poetic piano, electronics, and neo-soul, bringing together musicians, vocalists, and poets from his New York community to create a collective artistic voice.
Words by Halldรณr Kristรญnarson, managing editor of Shouts โ Music from the Rooftops!
Social Cohesion by Mudrat
I listen to 30 protest albums a month for the monthly political albums round-up I write at greenleft.org.au. A standout for me this year was Social Cohesion, the debut album from Naarm/Melbourne-based punk-hip hop artist Mudrat, who is creating a real stir with his innovative and uncompromising music. This was solidified by seeing him electrify an audience of activists at Rising Tide, a blockade of the world’s biggest coal port in Muloobinba/Newcastle. Check out his earworm “I Hate Rich Cunts”, which has passed 1 million plays on Spotify alone.
Saba Alizadehโs Temple of Hope is the kind of album that could be enough to carry an artistโs legacy on its shoulders with no backup. The music composition by the Iranian artist takes you to a different world. One that is filled with hope, dreams, loss, and even death. With the protests recently happening in Iran, Templeof Hopefeels like it predicted it ever since it was released. The song To Become a Martyr, One Has to Be Murdered could be played while you are on the edge of your seat, watching a nation rise up. It’s not just Alizadehโs composition that makes the album one of 2025โs best, but the vocals, carefully chosen and placed in the right songs, are the missing piece of the puzzle. Maybe as the years passed, Iranians will find themselves walking into a new nation that they made become their own temple of hope.
Words by Salma Ahmed, contributing writer for Shouts โ Music from the Rooftops! Read more of Salma’s articles can be found here.
They’re Burning the Boats by Bambu
One of my favourite albums of the year is They’re Burning the Boats, by Filipino-American rapper Bambu. The veteran musician has been in the rap game for a minute – and it shows. There’s a layer of maturity and understanding in his lyrics, something that comes with experience. Bambu is a father, and his hope for a more just world for his daughter shines through on this album. He wants to leave a legacy, and he makes sure he spits the truth in every song he makes or is part of. He gets straight to the point and tears down the fascist forces that are trying to divide us all. He takes hard shots with harder rhymes and makes it look easy. With sometimes carnival-sounding beats from Fatgums and each song holding its own, this is one piece I’ve been spinning again and again this year. It makes me want to go out and fight fascists and also stay at home and hold my daughter – all at once.
Words by Halldรณr Kristรญnarson, managing editor of Shouts โ Music from the Rooftops!
The Film by SUMAC and Moor Mother
The Film is a visceral jaw-dropping concept album constructed like an original motion picture soundtrack. The pairing of a sludge metal band with a bona fide artist like Moor Mother delivers on all fronts. The compositions pound away at you. Is this what it’s like to decolonize your mind? Standout track is “Scene 1,” but it doesn’t really have songs. Each “scene,” and the few tracks in between, have to be heard together to appreciate this statement of artistic freedom.
In the same vein of anti-war films like โAll Quiet on the Western Frontโ or โWarfare,โ 1914 shines a light on the pain and loss of war to demonstrate an anti-war message through blackened death metal. On the surface, their new album – Viribus Unitis – may appear to glorify the violent battles of WWI, however, the sheer terror and death tolls that are lyrically showcased become a clear warning against continued wars in modern day, and therefore, the perfect protest album, especially considering the bandโs Ukrainian origin. Mastered by Tony Lindgren (Enslaved, Leprous), be sure to give this album a listen if youโre into Rotting Christ, Kanonenfieber, or even Type O Negative.
Grit and soul is what you get on Kirby’s new album, Miss Black. After years of working deep inside the music industry, living in New York, the Memphis-born, Mississippi-raised artist went back to her homeland to create her newest work. She describes it as a record โabout growing up in Mississippi and understanding how the fight of your ancestors, the love of your family, the blood on the land and the joy of the Sunday choir shaped how you see the world.โ And it simply sounds amazing.
Words by Halldรณr Kristรญnarson, managing editor of Shouts โ Music from the Rooftops!
Love them or hate them, thereโs no doubt Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap are having a moment.
Their music โ delivered in a powerful fusion of English and Irish โ is known for its gritty lyrics about party drugs and working-class life in post-Troubles Ireland. More recently, the group has made headlines for its outspoken support for the Palestinian people.
British police have charged member Liam รg ร hAnnaidh (known by his stage name Mo Chara) with a terrorism offence. ร hAnnaidh was charged in May, after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert in November.
But this isnโt the first time an Irish republican group has courted controversy for backing other oppressed peoples. This has been happening for almost two centuries.
Unsanitised and vocal support
Ireland is composed of 32 counties. Twenty-six are in the Republic of Ireland, while six are part of the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland. When the British government withdrew from most of Ireland in 1921, the Irish Free State was largely Catholic, while Northern Ireland was more heavily Protestant. But these divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
While Ireland is still split across two nations, public support for Irish unity remains strong, particularly among citizens of the Republic.
Kneecapโs members are from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. They are also fierce republicans, which means they want to see Ireland united as one nation. One of their most popular songs, Get Your Brits Out, calls for the British stateโs withdrawal from Northern Ireland.
Despite being undeniable provocateurs, they claim they arenโt interested in reigniting Catholic-Protestant conflict. They celebrate the similarities between both groups, rather than highlight their differences.
ร hAnnaidhโs alleged terrorism offence came after he waved a Hezbollah flag at a London gig and chanted โUp Hamas, up Hezbollahโ. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are considered terrorist groups in Britain. He will face court on August 20.
Irish-Mฤori solidarity
Kneecap is carrying on a long tradition of Irish groups who faced controversy for denouncing the oppressive acts of powerful states.
In the 19th century, several Irish nationalist groups expressed solidarity with other colonised peoples, especially Mฤori in Aotearoa New Zealand. Groups such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood (whose members were called Fenians) arguably saw Mฤori and Irish as co-victims of a tyrannical state.
Irish nationalist newspapers often wrote sympathetically about the colonisation of New Zealand, and tried to inspire Ireland to resist British subjugation, like Mฤori seemed to be doing.
This painting by Kennett Watkins, The Death of Von Tempsky at Te Ngutu o Te Manu (circa 1893), portrays conflict in 1868 between armed constabulary and Mฤori forces. Wikimedia
In July 1864, the Fenian newspaper The Irish People stressed British hypocrisy. It wrote, โsavages we call [Mฤori], using the arrogant language of civilisation, but, honestly, they deserve to be characterised by a much better wordโ.
It also scoffed at the โunconquerable propensity of the Anglo-Saxon to plunder the lands of other people โ a propensity which manifests itself most strikingly alike in Ireland and New Zealandโ.
Similarly, in December 1868, the nationalist newspaper The Nation contrasted โvaliantโ Mฤori with โterrifiedโ British. It sarcastically described Mฤori as โrebels (men fighting for their own rights on their own soil)โ and mocked the British forces as โvaliant men who could bully a priestโ.
The article finished on a sombre note: โMere valour will in the end go down before the force of numbers and the cunning of diplomacyโ.
In Ireland, Parnell encouraged poor tenant farmers to pause rent payments to their British landlords. In New Zealand, Te Whiti encouraged Mฤori to dismantle colonially-constructed fences and plough the land for themselves. Both were arrested in 1881 within three weeks of each other.
The โNo Rent Manifestoโ was issued on 18 October 1881, by Parnell and others of the Irish National Land League while in Kilmainham Jail. National Library of Ireland
So strong was the sense of kinship between Irish and Mฤori that, in the 1860s, there were persistent rumours of a joint Irish-Mฤori rebellion reported in the media and even New Zealandโs parliament.
In March, 1869, the conservative New Zealand newspaper Daily Southern Cross reported a large number of Mฤori โhave decided on joining the Fenian Brotherhood, and have adopted the green flag as their national emblemโ.
Later that year, the paper reported the supposed Fenians told a Mฤori resistance group that, โlike the Maori, they hate the British rule, and are prepared to make common cause [โฆ] to overthrow that rule in New Zealandโ.
However, these rumours were probably no more than a conspiracy fuelled by racist anti-Irish paranoia.
Actions and outcomes
Any tangible results of cross-cultural sympathy from 19th century Irish nationalists were mixed, at best. My ongoing research shows solidarity with Mฤori was partly motivated by humanitarian motives, but was also often used to make a point about Ireland.
Identifying with another oppressed peoples within the context of a corrupt empire was a powerful way to argue for improved political recognition within Ireland. Irish nationalists generally didnโt do much other than declare their sympathy.
Kneecap, on the other hand, seems willing to bear the legal and financial consequences of being vocal about human rights abuses in Gaza. Some of their shows have been cancelled, and funding providers have withdrawn.
While curated rebellion can be lucrative in show-business, Kneecap says the controversy following them is a distraction. They insist the world should focus squarely on Gaza instead.
