Bonnie "Prince" Billy Shares New Song From New Refugee Benefit Comp Featuring Alisdair Roberts, Linda Thompson, More

Bonnie “Prince” Billy is among the contributors to a new benefit compilation, Refugee, for the Migrant Offshore Aid Station in Malta, which operates rescue missions in the Aegean, Andaman, and Mediterranean Sea. The record, organized by Scottish folk artist Robin Adams, comes out June 3 on Brainfog. Alongside Billy, whose song “Most People” you can hear below, are artists including Alisdair Roberts, Linda Thompson, and Richard Dawson. Check out the full tracklist below.

Speaking about the impetus for the record, Adams said in a press release:

Around the beginning of last year I found myself increasingly disturbed by a growing number of reports from many reputable independent media outlets, not only describing the horror of the Syrian crisis itself but also a shocking lack of coverage in the mainstream media. What little coverage there was I found to be deeply troubling given the insensitive nature of the reporting.  

All of this moved me to write a song that directly addressed the problem. The obvious thing to do was to release it digitally via Bandcamp as a charity single to raise money for MOAS At the time [of the single], the severity of the crisis hadn’t quite resonated with the general public, because it simply wasn’t being reported frequently or clearly enough in the mainstream media. Months later there was a shift in awareness after [the media] published heartbreaking photographs in September 2015 of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi washed ashore on a Turkish beach. That moment seemed to turn public perception on the crisis around very quickly.

It occurred to me that organising a charity album might be the best way I could help. I got in touch with anyone I could think of whose music I admired and asked if they’d be interested in contributing. I just asked if they’d like to write a song or contribute something new which they felt might be fitting. The response was wonderful and it just grew from there.

Various Artists: Refugee:

01 Duglas Stewart BMX Bandits – “How Not To Care”
02 Mike and Solveig – “Ravioli”
03 Alasdair Roberts – “Scarce of Fishing”
04 Robin Adams – “The Devil”s War and God”s Blue Sea”
05 Piers Faccini – “This Morning the Birds”
06 Jenny Lysander – “The Horn Stills Blows”
07 Ricky Ross – “Baby what”s To Know”
08 Linda Thompson – “Witchseason”
09 Bonnie Prince Billy – “Most People”
10 Rick Redbeard – “Postcards”
11 Rachel Sermanni – “Innocent Journey”
12 Kathryn Joseph – “The Lines”
13 Roddy Hart – “West”
14 Dana Falconberry – “The Dusk”
15 Richard Dawson – “To the Sea”

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