- Music
- 10 Jul 20
“Just keep smiling whatever you do / Shut your mouth or we’ll shut it for you”
The third single from Sisterix is a hard-hitting political criticism of one of Ireland's most dysfunctional social institutions; the family.
The Dublin group are comprised of Ornait and Siomha Hennessy, and dropped their previous two singles 'Asking For Trouble' and 'Just Another Reason To Hate You' on May 8 of this year.
According to the duo, "the nuclear family unit remains a site of suffering and oppression for countless women and children, a reality frequently brushed under the carpet by a system that still benefits from the unpaid labour of women in the home."
In response, Sisterix have released a searing social commentary in the form of new track, 'The Family'.
“Close the curtains, there’s nothing to see / Except a very friendly family...”
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The song doubles as a metaphor for the hidden abuses of the Irish state itself, with its history of hiding away populations deemed "Other".
This practice continues to this day in the State's treatment of asylum seekers, the Traveller Community, and until very recently, the thousands of women forced to the UK for reproductive healthcare as well as the Magdalene Laundries (the final one was only shut in 1996).
"Just as in the song’s eponymous family, those who disrupt the political status quo will be punished," a press release on the Sisterix single says.
"But staying silent might just be a heavier price to pay."
According to the duo's biography, "Each sister possesses their own individual musical voice but choose to join forces in a dynamic musical duo that is at once symbiotic and parasitic.
"The question of whom the parasite is, can be left to the audience to decide, although each sister harbours their own personal views on the matter."
Songwriting and sisterhood are the two greatest resources they draw on, with the pair addressing themes of alienation, frustration, and disconnection in their music alongside melodies, and sunny riffs."
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Listen to the powerful tune below: