We Speak Music
Beldon Haigh’s “World Got So Dumb” Strikes a Chord
Scottish band Beldon Haigh’s new song, “World Got So Dumb”, is an anthem for the disenchanted, a rallying cry for the proletariat. With razor-sharp lyricism and a sound that blends ska, reggae, and rock influences, Beldon Haigh delivers a powerful message wrapped in irresistible melodies.
But this single is just the beginning. It sets the tone for Beldon Haigh’s upcoming album, which tackles a myriad of societal issues with unflinching honesty. From the scourge of poverty and inequality to the erosion of community and the insidious influence of capitalism, each track invites listeners to pause, reflect, and reconsider their place in the world.
“World Got So Dumb the album deals with lots of current societal themes. For example poverty and inequality (Money Back) the breakdown of community and individual responsibility (Dumpster Fire) the need to forgive and forget (Old Black Eye) the narcissism of capitalism (Any Way You Want It) and the corruption of leaders (Felony), the eventual slide into compliance to a broken system (Life Is Hard). Throughout all of the songs there’s a general invitation to stop and think about stuff, to stop and look at the broken world that we live in and re-evaluate our approach towards it. But the system does not really want us to do that, it keeps us so distracted with other things that we feel like there is no bandwidth for evaluation, and most people are so downtrodden just paying the bills that they don’t want any more reminders of the unfairness of the system. And so it carries on. The rich and powerful few (whales) become more rich and more powerful, whilst the rest of us float around like plankton in their, broken and rigged, system.”
Yet, as the band points out, the system thrives on distraction and complacency. It keeps us so preoccupied with the everyday struggles that we forget to question the injustices around us. But Beldon Haigh refuses to let us remain passive observers in our own lives. Through their music, they inspire us to challenge the status quo, to question authority, and to strive for a more equitable society.
With their trademark blend of political satire and infectious melodies, Beldon Haigh is more than just a band – they’re a beacon of hope in a world gone mad. So let’s join together, raise our voices, and ride the wave of change with Beldon Haigh as our guide. After all, if we don’t speak up, who will?
Michele Ducci has unveiled the second single, ‘Woman Like You’, from his forthcoming album and animated film ‘Snail in the Clouds’.
‘Woman Like You’ pairs bright distorted electric guitar with an electronic drumbeat, adding in Ducci’s soulful vocals and a catchy uplifting chorus with Letizia Mandoleisi’s sweet vocal harmonies. A vintage organ pedalboard operated by Ducci simultaneously generates chords, bass and rhythm, like a one-man band. Shane Kennedy (Girl in the Year Above) joins in on guitar. Simon Milner (Is Tropical, Ysing) recorded and produced the track at his 4am Studios in London.
The album and film tell the story of a planet called ‘Snail’, inhabited by hybrids – primarily a mixture between scorpions, snails and humans – who lead a life according to the style of Pythagoras, devoted to music. There is also a cloud man named Agostos, a writer of musical operettas, who together with a talking smoke machine called Doctor Subtilis, begins to kill all hybrids, targeting in particular the hybrid musician Diodoros and his band, in an effort to steal the ark of melodies, an ancient ship that allows the whole planet to survive with music and joy.
The video for the single, created and animated by Ducci and Mandoleisi, delves further into the realm of planet ‘Snail’:
Says Ducci, “The ark of melodies, after various attempts, finally starts to work and fly in the planet Snail, while the shady Doc. Sub. and Agostos, with their platoon of soldiers made of foggy smoke, spy the miracle, planning to steal the ark for their evil and tyrannical purposes.”
About the track, Michele says, “I wrote this song for my love Letizia. Love seen from the mind is the sound we make. Sound is the love of matter.
We used a Technics synthesizer organ from a flea market. I tried to find a mood that was right for the song and I started using the bass of the pedal board together with the synth and the drums, and it was magical to hear the song reveal itself all coming from a single instrument. Leti was singing with me and we recorded everything live in one shot. Then we made Shane do the guitar flight, as if he came out of the window. The idea was to maintain disproportions, guitar thrust and synth drum thinness a la Haroumi Hosono, so as to create an estrangement, but naturally: it’s about how I listen, with close up something that captures me in its nuance as element of a larger orchestra somewhere. I’m glad we decided in the studio with Simon to use the layers of arrangement as the close-ups in the cinema; they look like strange enlargements that perch on parts of a mutated orchestra. I’m happy to come back with this love song at a time when everything seems to opt, even my labor in managing the flows of selfishness that have poured out on me while doing this album, for the sound of war. I’m here happy to be able to say that the sound of love always wins as did for me. Snail in the clouds is one of the most important works in my life and I am glad to start from pure love for this album that is my son.”
The album and full-length film will be released on the 5th of June on Monotreme Records.
Michele and Letizia’s previous musical short film, ‘The Great Book of Nature’, is an official selection for the 2026 Venice Shorts Film Festival.
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