Mystery Jets release surprise covers album ‘Home Protests’
Mystery Jets have surprised fans with the release of new covers album ‘Home Protests’ – which sees them putting their own spin on classics from the likes of Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and Willy Mason.
The new record also sees the London band extending the themes of their most recent record, ‘A Billion Heartbeats’, to cover a series of protest classics.
As well as delivering their own take Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, the album sees the Jets covering Newman’s ‘Short People’ and Mason’s ‘Oxygen’.
Other tracks include their covers of Robert Wyatt’s ‘The Age of Self’ and ‘Don’t Give Up’ – Peter Gabriel’s 1986 duet with Kate Bush.
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Explaining how they recorded the album in lockdown, the Jets said: “As the world ground to a halt, with global lockdowns and illnesses, we continued to protest from our homes: recording lo-fi live covers of nine timeless tracks spanning the last half-century. Songs tackling perennial issues from discrimination and homelessness to war, consumer capitalism and environmental destruction.”
They added: “These are songs of resilience, which remind us of the things worth fighting for.”
The record’s release comes days after Mystery Jets announced a series of socially distanced shows at London’s The Clapham Grand later this month.
The band will take to the venue for two shows on December 19, with support coming from Ferris & Sylvester and DJ Rowena Alice.
Mystery Jets released their latest album ‘A Billion Heartbeats’ in April. “With protest songs and celebrations of the NHS all part of their new identity, it’s a wildly successful take on the world at large as the band enter a new decade,” NME wrote of the album in a four-star review.
Earlier on this summer, the band launched a new podcast series with guests including Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and IDLES’ Joe Talbot and topics ranging from justice for the families affected by the Grenfell Tower blaze, racial and class discrimination in Britain and homelessness to addiction, toxic masculinity, the NHS and mental health in the digital age.