★★★☆
If you’re expecting the creators of an album calledReclaim Australiato hold anything back, you’re in for a wild ride.
Long-time friends and musicians Briggs (Album of the Year recipient at the National Indigenous Music Awards 2015) and Trials (ARIA-winning producer for Drapht, Seth Sentry, Illy and Hilltop Hoods) have teamed up as A.B. Original to put together a blistering collection of tracks that hit like a punch to the gut.
Simmering with anger and set to classic ’80s hip hop beats, Reclaim Australia is immediately reminiscent of N.W.A in its unapologetic approach to the injustices still faced by Aboriginal Australians. The album includes excerpts of speeches made about “breeding out” Aboriginal people, as well as an introduction by Archie Roach, who remembers protesting for land rights in the ’70s. Dan Sultan, Gurrumul and Thelma Plum lend their voices to three of the tracks, adding a somewhat gentler layer to an otherwise intense record.
There is a deep pain and anguish that underlies Reclaim Australia’s ferocity. Briggs and Trials demand that we sit up, take notice and take action.
There’s no more turning a blind eye to the damage that we as a society have inflicted, and are still inflicting, on Aboriginal people.
A.B. Original’sReclaim Australiais available now through Golden Era/Universal.
