Fine Shields We Are is the first single to be released from our new album Four. We have long hesitated what song would be best as a first single. For long, Money was our first candidate. Other songs are probably better tailored for the radio, like Brighton and Hove or Isle Of U.
But Fine Shields We Are is urgent. It is more than a song, it is an indictment. It’s about the walls, fences and strips of no man’s land, lined with razor wire, popping up all over Europe. About the trenches and the camps. Seems it will not be long before the hen-hearted politicians of Europe will start laying minefields. So there we are, more than 30 years after This Is Welfare, once again we start off with a political song. And again, one with an intro that is far too long for a single. But hey, who cares.
The videoclip of Fine Shields We Are is directed by Hetty de Kruijf. Hetty is the director of the acclaimed short film Nighthaven and currently working on a film about the Jungle, the sprawling village near Calais where hundreds of refugees dreaming of a life in England find a temporary, leaky shelter.
The clip shows images of razor wire that comes from ESF in Malaga. That company proudly reported to be the sole supplier of razor barbed wire with which European countries bring the flow of refugees to a halt. It posted a cheering text to a photo of wrapped rolls on Twitter saying, “From here to Europe! The full 100% of the razor barbed wire in Europe comes from our factory.” More cynical than that is hard to find, you think? Well, it seems that the razor wire material is called concertinas in Spanish. And that is because the shape of the barbed wire is similar to the concertina: a sort of accordion.
With Fine Shields We Are, we hope we can contribute a tiny little bit to all the positive action against the cynicism, the hatred and the fact-free populist chatter.
It’s cold outside
So come in and hide
October 16, 2016