6 minute read
MYSTERY JETS
In the face of political crisis, 'A Billion Heartbeats' is a Mystery Jets' call for community spirit. But for it to happen, they had to get off that glacier…
Blaine Harrison doesn't get homesick. After nearly twenty years on the road at the helm of Mystery Jets, he embraces living out of a suitcase, allowing the change in scenery to influence his musical direction. As is his custom when the urge to start a new record strikes, he sought out isolation in late 2017, and found himself in Iceland, pondering over the ideas that would shape the band's seventh album. Little did he know, inspiration was breaking all the way back home. "I was hiking and I was halfway up a glacier, as you do." He recalls. "I was having a bit of a holiday from social media, but I managed to get some phone signal, and I saw that lots of my friends were at the International Women's Day Marches right across the world. I just had this very emotional reaction; part of it was being on my own in the most isolated place I'd ever been, but then a bigger part of it was just realising that the world is changing before our very eyes. In a strange way, Trump's presidency has brought about this whole conversation around gender equality and human rights - the #MeToo and Times Up's conversation were very much catalysed in the wake of his coming into power. I had this very strong pull to come back, and when I did, I started going to protests religiously – every weekend for about 18 months." Taking an almost studious approach, Blaine's research took him far and wide in a mission to understand more about why people gather in the name of change. "I went to everything; the Solidarity Sleepout for child refugees in Calais, Pride, the Extinction Rebellion takeovers of the bridges, Black Lives Matter, Free Tommy Robinson." He explains. "I felt it was actually really important to see both sides of conversations, especially if you're a liberalminded person, which I am. It felt really important to me to remove myself from the echo chambers of left-wing media - going on marches 100% populated by people on the complete opposite on the political spectrum to myself was really educational."
Advertisement
Tommy Robinson and Britain First marches became the driving force behind 'Screwdriver', the records heavy opener that invites the listener to 'fight them with love'. "When I went on those marches, what I actually saw was not a gathering of evil people," he reasons. "It was just people from working-class backgrounds - communities whose jobs have been taken away from them by the Conservative government. These are communities who have been hurting for 20, 30 years, but they're being brainwashed by the rhetoric of the tabloids. They're looking for someone to blame, and the communities time and time again who have the blame pinned to them are migrants, marginalised people who have come to country with nothing and become the targets of people's frustrations. I think we're living in the information age where everybody is just trying to get by and swim in this very confusing bit of history. For me, that path is songwriting; I'm not a journalist, I don't go to protests to report, but
what I can do is try and put the feelings I sense around me into music." Despite it's heavy subject matter, 'A Billion Heartbeats' has a universally uplifting message. Musically speaking, the pep and fun of a Mystery Jets record is firmly in place, while the lyrics tackle everything from climate change and racial inequality to mental health and gender equality, a notable shift from the personal nature of their earlier work. With so many ideas in the mix, there's a certain risk of being perceived as cashing in on the zeitgeist, especially for a band normally known for a more straightforward indie hit. Did he fear coming off as performative? "We talk about questions of privilege, and whether it's your battle to fight etc., but whether that was at Black Lives Matter or Pride, I never felt a sense of 'you're not welcome here,'" he says. "As a person with a disability, by proxy I belong to the disabled community. But if an able-bodied person wants to stand up for disabled rights, then I'd just say fucking well done to that person. As a band, we've perhaps shied away on previous records from talking about what's going on in the world around us, and I think that's partly an age thing - in your twenties you're experiencing life at a gazillion miles an hour. Heartbreak, finding your place in the world, carving out relationships… all these things have such a profound effect on you and really shape who you are, and I think it perhaps took until now to find the courage and the emotional confidence to turn the lens on the outside world." Where Blaine can draw on a multitude of direct experience, is with the NHS. Born with spina bifida, complications resulting from his condition lead to an elongated hospital stay in late 2019, delaying the
initially planned release of the record. From the experience comes ones of the albums most poignant moments – 'Hospital Radio', a track that speaks to the necessity of open-access healthcare.
"Half of my body is full of pins and metal, so am I literally built by the NHS!" he smiles. "It's thanks to having so many incredible people helping me over the years that I've been able to do my job, to stay on the road and make records. That song very much felt like a chance to express my gratitude and pay back a little of what they've done for me. I think it's resonated in some ways, like nothing we've ever done before, because it's come at a time where the very future of the NHS is under such question. I've been ill on both sides of the Atlantic, and when I got sick in America, it was cheaper for me to fly home to get my antibiotics and be seen by
Words by Jenessa Williams
my doctor than it was to get antibiotics from a private health clinic. It really isn't a joke, but in the UK at least, I feel quite positive about it now – the ClapForOurCarers which has been happening over the past few weeks has really reaffirmed this nations appreciation of the NHS." Although Coronavirus may have delayed 'A Billion Heartbeats' physical release yet again, its digital existence seems to have come at exactly the right time – spreading a message of hope and resilience that while perhaps not the vaccine we need, is at least capable of raising morale. A few months back, the band took a further hit by the departure of original guitarist Williams Rees – a perfectly amicable split, but another nudge towards reevaluation. Despite everything thrown Mystery Jets way, Blaine is determined to keep his eyes on the bright side. "I truly believe that music finds you when you need it most – it can lift the human spirit like nothing else." He says, "When all of this is over, we can't go back to 'normal' – normal wasn't working. I'm not superstitious or a conspiracy theorist by any means, but I do think this is an opportunity to really think about the way we have been living, the way that the world has been run. It's a chance to really reassess what's truly important to us, which is simple really – it's human connection, it's food, it's family, home – these are the things we need. Everything else is just nice to have. I just feel grateful that this record is out at all, and can serve whatever use people need it to."
