Do you think there’s no good protest music these days? So did I, until I started looking for it. Every month, I listen to it all, then select the best that relates to that month’s political news. Here’s the round-up for April 2026.
1. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD KIDS - VOICE OF THE REVOLUTION
Seven Australian Jewish groups called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to cut ties with Israel over its new Palestinian death penalty law on April 7. United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk said its "application to residents of the occupied territory would constitute a war crime”. Even three of the major Australian Zionist organisations condemned it. Joining the outrage were super-skilled US rappers The Neighbourhood Kids, with their new, impeccably produced, pro-Palestine album, released on April 20. On "Brainwash" they rap: “Putting kids in the rubble, not even a casket. Not even a fraction of the people have any compassion. I think I just had it with these bigots and fascists." A fortnight earlier, US president Donald Trump said he didn't care about committing war crimes while bombing Iran. He then shocked the world by warning the Iranians: "A whole civilisation will die tonight." LISTEN>>>
2. MUDRAT - SOCIAL COHESION LIVE!
Iran then brokered a ceasefire with the US and Israel. Mediator Pakistan said the deal included an agreement Israel would stop bombing Lebanon. Instead, the Israelis immediately launched their biggest attack yet on the Lebanese. As satirical website The Betoota Advocate put it: "There are approximately 7,159 living languages in use worldwide. Each of them said 'for fuck's sake' overnight as Israel breaks ceasefire and ruins it for everyone." An activist then spray-painted "Fuck Israel" on Aussie tourist attraction The Big Banana, leading police to warn anyone sharing the image could be publicly inciting hatred on the grounds of race, despite Israel being a country, not a race. Pro-Palestine punk rapper Mudrat chants the same words while performing his biggest hit "I Hate Rich Cunts" on his new album, released the same day. The live LP bottles the lightning of his electrifying stage show. LISTEN>>>
3. AKALA NEWMAN - (A)RISE
Mudrat starts his show by respecting Aboriginal people with an Acknowledgement of Country, which is cheered on the LP. But when Aboriginal elder Ray Minniecon opened an Anzac war memorial service with an Acknowledgement of Country on April 25, racists booed him. The heckling came despite the fact he served in the army and his brothers and grandfather fought in wars. A fortnight earlier, Wiradjuri/Gadigal musician, lecturer and cultural advisor Akala Newman released her latest album, which includes the song "Daughter Of A Warrior People". The LP, which opens with lyrics sung in language, stresses what she calls "the magic that happens when community thrives". Two days later, fellow Indigenous musician Djanba released her latest EP, expressing similar solidarity. “In a capitalist society, we’re kind of forced to do things in a way that’s singular," she said. "It’s never about the community.” LISTEN>>>
4. ENTER SHIKARI - LOSE YOUR SELF
A day before Djanba's latest release, British post-hardcore band Enter Shikari released their new album, which also stresses the power of community. "This album at its core is a criticism of hyper-individualism," they said. "It goes against the idea that we’re divided from each other and disconnected from the natural world. That is the core tenet of capitalism, and it’s becoming more and more dangerous. It’s starting to be normalised and it feels so concrete because it’s all we’ve known for decades. It’s like we all have completely forgotten our power as a collective... but that’s how the system protects itself. It forces individualism down our throats and backs us all into a corner until we’re like, ‘This is just how it is and how it’ll always be.’” They surprise-released the LP with no announcement "to not be distracted by chart races", they said. "We got the No.1 album on our last record." LISTEN>>>
5. FRANK TURNER - CAMPFIRE PUNKROCK 20
Enter Shikari's fellow British protest musician Frank Turner released the 20th Anniversary Edition of his Campfire Punkrock album, which also laments the loss of community, on April 10. On its track "Thatcher Fucked The Kids", he laments the legacy of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her notorious neoliberal notion that "there is no such thing as society, only individuals and families". "We're all wondering how we ended up so scared," he sings. "We spent 10 long years teaching our kids not to care, and that 'there's no such thing as society' anyway. And all the rich folks act surprised when all sense of community dies. But you just closed your eyes to the other side of all the things that she did. Thatcher fucked the kids." On the live version on the new LP, he tells his entusiastic audience: "It's so easy to get a round of applause by singing a song about how Maggie Thatcher's shit." LISTEN>>>
6. SEAN COONEY, ELIZA CARTHY, SAM CARTER, JENNIFER REID - PETER'S FIELD
Delving deeper into British political history is a beautifully-produced new album by English folk musicians, released days earlier. Peter's Field tells how, in 1819, 60,000 people gathered at St Peter’s Field in Manchester to demand the reform of parliamentary representation. When the cavalry was sent in, 18 people died and 700 were injured. Post-punk pioneer Jah Wobble also examines British political history on his radical new LP with ex-Siouxsie & The Banshees guitarist Jon Klein, released to streaming services on April 24. "Speed, speed, against the wall, watch the mighty empire fall," Wobble spits. "History repeats, repeats, repeats." Discussing the LP, he said: "I remember Italy as a kid... In Britain, we rather snobbily would feel, 'Well, at least we’d never be like the Italians, they’re really crazy with politics.' Actually, look at us now - we're more emotional than the Italians." LISTEN>>>
7. ERASERHEAD - VIOLENCE
Polarising politicians are also pulverised on the new album by Eraserhead, the alter ego of Jim'll Paint It, whose satirical digital artworks have made him an internet sensation. Announcing its April 3 release, he said: "This is predominantly dark and angry electronic music straight from the heart... It might not be what you’d expect from the guy that paints funny pictures, but I’m pissed off about a lot of what’s going on in the world (as any decent person no doubt is) and MS Paint isn’t always the most cathartic medium." On its lead single, "Hurricane With Teeth", guest emcee Beans targets Trump's Make America Great Again movement as he raps: "Visible disintegration, there's only deterioration, a MAGA spectacle of rot." And on the LP's title track, guest vocalist Nadia Rose slams Reform UK's fascist leader as she seethes: "Everywhere I turn there's racist cunts. I don't give a fuck about Nigel Farage." LISTEN>>>
8. SKINDRED - YOU GOT THIS
As Britain's Labour Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, pandered to the far-right Farage, Welsh ragga metal band Skindred released their first chart-topping album - which slays the kind of xenophobia peddled by Starmer and Farage - on April 17. On "Broke", they sing: "I'm on my knees again, and it ain't 'cause the foreigners are pouring in. I'm broke, and I can't take no more. I don't know how much longer I can sweep your floor. 'Cause I'm working so hard, but I never seem to have any money to spеnd. I keep working so hard, but I ain't got a penny to spend." They said the album's title, "You Got This", is "a positive message to everyone going through a tough time, or suffering with their mental health". The album came as inflation rose worldwide due to Trump's war on Iran, leading the International Monetary Fund to warn on April 8 that "war's economic hit dwarfs natural disasters and debt defaults". LISTEN>>>
9. CARSIE BLANTON & THE BURNING HELL - EVERYTHING IS GREAT!
Trump's polarising politics came to a head on April 25, when a gunman tried to assassinate him. Canadian PM Mark Carney echoed politicians' platitudes worldwide as he said: "Political violence has no place in any democracy." But US indie protest musician Carsie Blanton had already pointed out the irony of such statements on her new album with Canadian band The Burning Hell, released on April 1. On "Peace & Freedom", she sings: "900 attack helicopters, 5,000 tomahawk nukes, 800 military bases, 81 declassified coups. We don’t believe in political violence, that ain’t the way that we get things done. We don’t believe in political violence, peace and freedom for everyone!" And on its title track, she sneers: "It’s the hottest summer in the history of man, for some reason yesterday we bombed Iran. Everybody knows we’re starting world war three, but nobody wants to talk about what you should do." LISTEN>>>
10. NAMELESS FRIENDS - THE QUIET PART, LOUDLY
Trump's would-be assassin, 31-year-old teacher Cole Allen, reportedly wrote a manifesto saying: "I'm no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes." It was an apparent reference to the FBI redacting "credible evidence" that Trump had "orally raped" a 13-year-old girl, then punched her in the head, in files released about late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. When a reporter asked Trump about the manifesto, he replied: "I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you're horrible people... I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody. I'm not a paedophile." Ten days earlier, Canadian punks Nameless Friends released their new LP, which contains the track "There's a rapist in the White House". On it, they sing: "I've been having nightmares that the American state loves violent men, and that’s why we helped one rape his way to the top." LISTEN>>>
[Mat Ward has been writing for Green Left since 2009. He also wrote the book Real Talk: Aboriginal Rappers Talk About Their Music And Country and makes political music. Mat Ward's latest single is My Temu Trash Pile.]
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Read about more political albums.
Stream our new “Best protest songs of 2026” playlist. This replaces the previous “Political albums” playlist, that was getting too big at more than 700 albums.