Officially launching in June,  a fresh compilation of spoken word and music by Melbourne based female and gender diverse poets and producers.

Two Sydney artists, two great communicators, have joined forces to inspire us to action. Candy Royalle & Kween G combine - and seriously, what a combination! - for a confrontational, unapologetic track about racism in Australia and the world over. 

I think this is the greatest compliment I could give to a spoken word album, to be honest: that it can be listened to and that it can also just be heard. It doesn't demand close difficult attention, but invites it. It is music that is as lovely to listen to as any folk music I tend to want to hear on a lazy Saturday afternoon. And it is also storytelling, as rewarding as any novel. 

Rafeef Ziadeh is a Palestinian performance poet and human rights activist based in London. Following on from her 2014 release Hadeel, the new album We Teach Life is a beautiful development both poetically and musically.

A powerful poem by Abdul Hammoud, directed by Charles Williams, filmed by Aaron Farrugia

It feels good to be writing about two Australian spoken word long-play releases in the same week. And particularly good to be writing about a release from a storyteller who  tells the heart of this country, and who is taking storytelling to a whole new level.

The first time I saw Joel McKerrow perform live he was onstage alone belting out the poem Ugly Words, which features as the coda of this new long-play album, Welcome Home, with an urgency that surged and waned multiple times, from a tongue-in-cheek slyly self-knowing beginning to climactic shouting torrents of words that made it seem he might leap from the stage headlong into the audience, gather them all up and lead them on a poetic revolution through the streets. 

Here’s a snapshot of now, in Melbourne’s vibrant live spoken word scene.

This beautiful poet, beautiful voice, critically important story, captured with a very light touch by Luka Lesson on Kabalko Island …

Aja Monet’s new EP is a courageous collection coming from deep within the living art of storytelling.

Back in February, Anthony Joseph released Time, a collaboration with bassist and singer Meshell Ndegeocello, and for me, the spoken word album of the year so far, by far. Since then he’s been touring that collection of spoken word funk, jazz, roots, far and wide. And this month, three remixes take three tracks into new territories of sound.

Say Sumthin - released in June - is a beautiful mix of spoken word deeply rooted in soul.

Drawn from linguistics studies of the 1960s, the title creole continuum refers to the degrees of language shift between speakers from the dominant language to Creole. Kaie explores from this point, the social and racial distinctions brought about through colonialism of person and language. Reaching far back to his African origins, he draws out the drums of voice.

Woke up to some nice news this morning (in the south) as spoken word maestro Ken Nordine posted (in the evening of the north) this message:

“Guess what? A 94 years old guy called me (who doesn’t know better yet) has had a big fun of putting together a new CD called “bits & pieces”... Your Honor, forgive me. I confess… I am guilty again of having committed Word Jazz. I couldn’t help myself… I had to do it. And the woman I’ve been married to for nearly 70 years told me I’d better do it… Playing the age card, silly”

A spoken word song for lost children, for lost adults counting, losing count, for a world connected and disconnected, watching, turning away, hoping, losing hope. A poetic call to arms, a communication direct from a fearless heart.