Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something - "Easy Peeler"

Photo by Suzi Corker

The latest from Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something is a frantic burst of glammed up arty punk rock. "Easy Peeler" is a fast and out of control song that is still rooted in a (relatively) traditional song structure with punk roots. It sounds like a modern version of early British punk and New Wave. Despite being angry, the song still has a fun and even joyous edge to it. It's like a more ironed out version of X-Ray Spex mixed with a modern version of Blondie.

Jemma Freeman explains the new song:

"... it's a thing of pure unadulterated fury at brexiteers, the patriarchy, antivaxers, terfs and royalists, with exasperation directed at late night online social media discourse dressed up as debate that is actually just pessimistic, shallow bigotry.  Easy Peelers are a type of fruit specially bred for the skin to be easily removed. I like the symmetry of the name with the thin skinned critics of so called snow flake culture. The vitriolic delivery a testament to the unimaginable futility you can feel as just one small person in an ocean of vacuous impossibility.

"The lyrics were written by walking around and singing out loud to the instrumental track during lockdown. I'd moved from South east London to the west London suburbs, to be near to my girlfriend at the time. Being visibly queer and autistic in an incredibly homogeneous upper middle class environment felt totally unnatural. There is a limit to how many tuts and suspicious looks up and down one person can tolerate before either shutting down or lashing back. I'm not a violent person, my power lies within my words so belting out a volley of anarchic affirmations felt empowering. I liked the idea of being antagonistic, the antithesis of the boomer core values I felt I might drown in.”

You can watch the video for "Easy Peeler" below. Miffed is due out November 25 on Trapped Animal Records, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Jemma Freeman and The Cosmic Something, check out the band's Facebook and Twitter.