Kate Nash Releases New Single "Freedom of Me", From New Album "Cailín"

Kate Nash releases confrontational second single “Freedom Of Me” from her recently announced new album Cailín, a love letter to her Irish heritage due out 22nd January via iconic label Kill Rock Stars.

New single “Freedom of Me” finds an emboldened Kate playing the tin whistle on this vital, punk track that tackles the flagrant abuse of the term "freedom of speech".

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LISTEN HERE

Cailín is available to pre-order HERE

Kate on the meaning behind the single: “I’ve noticed the globalisation of this American approach to and obsession with freedom of speech on social media. We think of George Orwell’s 1984 when it comes to control over what we can or cannot say and it makes us feel like it’s incredibly important but is it? I don’t really think freedom of speech is so important and I think America is selling a lie. The far right are very concerned with and protective of it. And I'm obviously someone who speaks out about what she thinks. But in the UK our speech is governed by national legislation including the Public Order Act 1986, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, the Online Safety Act 2023, and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Rightly so in my opinion.

I would argue my right to exist free from rape and violence with access to healthcare without political debate is far more important than freedom of speech. Same goes for a trans person. My right to protest is fundamental. The song is also a reflection on how the media treats women when it comes to rape cases. I wrote this right after watching Dispatches - Russell Brand: In Plain Sight and watched the commentary online. It’s quite difficult as a woman to listen to the derogatory and casual things people say, watch the way women are dissected, the mistrust, the anger, the jokes, then boredom. I listened to the radio the next morning and people that worked for these massive tv corporations were feigning shock. I thought, how could you be shocked? It made me angry that we pretend this isn’t normal. I was also listening to the Covid inquiry into the Conservative Party at that time, men in positions of power who literally run the country saying things like “dodging stilettos from that cunt’ really stuck with me. It’s not lost on me that this song is dropping the week that Russell Brand is on trial and we are reading about the Cornell 7. The terrible thing about this song is how it will always be relevant.”

The accompanying video is unflinching. Kate, wearing Rion Hannora, stares down the viewer in a way reminiscent of Marina Abramović's The Artist Is Present, challenging those watching to look away and deny what is happening around them. It was made with Irish filmmaker Tom Beard, with whom she has collaborated on all the videos for the new album, each filmed in Dublin in black-and-white infrared.

Kate adds: “For the video for Freedom Of Me I had this idea of wearing a medieval torture device called the Heretic's Fork. They would be placed between the breastbone and under the chin so you could not sleep or speak. It was supposedly used during the Spanish Inquisition to punish and extract confessions from those accused of heresy, the method was not meant to kill, but to injure & push the victim to the brink of madness, which feels suitable for the subject matter. I worked with Tom Beard again and he had this super simple idea for shooting it lip sync to camera. The first take wasn't really working so we had to make the device more uncomfortable for me to wear, it was genuinely quite freaky as my neck was stretched so far back. It just kinda had to be uncomfortable to make sense. I can barely get the words out because it was obstructing my tongue, again it all feels relevant. It's kind of Frankensteinish and then weird body horror until it zooms out and you see my tits and then it's weirdly sexual. Again all quite fitting.”

“Freedom of Me” follows on from the first single "Spilt Milk" which takes a sideways look at reproductive rights that are being eroded for women and minority groups. "Spilt Milk," like a lot of Kate's music, and all of it on her new album, does not shy away from important yet difficult subjects.

Eleven years in the making, Kate Nash’s sixth studio album Cailín was produced by KoOoLkOjAk and recorded on the West Coast of Ireland at Stiúideo Cuan, under the watchful eye of pioneering trad musician Charlie Lennon. Cailín is a raw, raucous album combining traditional Irish sounds with punk energy, nods to hip hop production and Nash’s knack for a killer hook.

Nash holds dual nationality, with her mother born in Dublin, and grew up in an Irish community in North Harrow. When visiting her mother's "loving, vibrant Irish family" in Ireland every summer, she found that music infused the fabric of life in a way that felt natural and instinctive. Marrying punk protest songs with a joyful celebration of trad music, Cailín explores themes of family, forgiveness, love, colonialism, inequality, religion, and internalised shame, drawing on the rich texture of Irish folklore and mythology.

The record captures the spontaneous, collaborative spirit of impromptu pub performances, and Nash’s clear enthusiasm for live music is evident. From Uilleann pipes to claps and flutes, Nash’s Irish heritage shines through. Contributors including Niamh Dunne, Lottie Cullen, Aimée Farrell Courtney and Biird’s Lisa Canny play fiddles, flutes, the bodhrán, harp & banjo and Nash herself plays the tin whistle – the first instrument she learnt. “God bless my parents for putting up with it”, she says.

On Cailín, Kate takes aim at the rising whirl of malevolence we're seeing around us. In the tradition of Sinéad O'Connor, Shirley Manson and Siouxsie Sioux, she goes where others might shy away. She is an artist for all time.

Following performances at Other Voices Derry, Fleadh, All Together Now, Galway International Arts Festival and more, and in support of her forthcoming new album, Kate announced three intimate Irish shows in October which sold out immediately, further Irish dates have been confirmed for February. Kate has also just announced a run of November dates in North America.

Kate Nash Tour Dates

• 8 February - Cork - Cyprus Avenue
• 10 February - Limerick - Dolan’s
• 11 February - Galway - Róisín Dubh
• 13 February - Dublin - Button Factory
• 14 February - Belfast - Mandela Hall

Full Track List for ‘Cailín’

1. I Guess I Never Learnt A Thing

2. Cailín

3. Freedom of Me

4. Famine

5. Spilt Milk

6. Wild Atlantic Way

7. Crying

8. Irish Saints

9. Póg Mo Thóin

10. Lady Gregory

11. Pay Up

12. Christmas Eve