Having launched Darling Fitch Recommends during an emergent crisis, I’ve been searching for something meaningful to share. Amidst the horrors of my Twitter feed, which echo the horrors of the world, Kisos‘ new track Bite Your Tongue – Medusa Remix jumped out at me, a self-styled “social justice anthem” off their Autophagia EP. A scathing takedown of lip-service NGO liberal do-gooderism, Bite Your Tongue admonishes, urges, incites listeners not to, well, bite their tongues when times get tough outside their comfortable bubbles.
“You think you’re one of the good ones – but you’re silent when the time comes,” blasts the challenge. Examples of brutality and deportations lead to a broader cry to hear the suffering of others and respond with words and actions.
In Kisos’ words, the Autophagia EP “is inspired by the collective psychic trauma of the pandemic, isolation, brutal attacks on human rights, and the more personal side of losing loved ones. It’s a diary of desperation and depression, but eventually reaching healing and hope.”
Medusa’s mix and artwork lend the track a hypnotic bombast, and take the soulful anthem into party territory, while keeping it crisply confrontational.
Proceeds from Bite Your Tongue – Medusa Remix go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, proving Kisos and Medusa neither bite their tongues nor spew empty words. The track can be purchased on BandCamp, and found on the usual digital platforms. I’ve added it to the Darling Fitch Recommends playlist if you want to follow along on Spotify.