Mystery Jets Pay Tribute To NHS With New Track Hospital Radio
Tuesday, 09 July 2019
Written by Jon Stickler
Mystery Jets have released a new song, Hospital Radio.
The track pays tribute to the National Health Service staff that have helped lead singer Blaine Harrison, who was born with Spina Bifida and spends a lot of time relying on local hospitals. It arrives in time for the NHS' 71st anniversary and marks the band's first new material since their last album, 2016's 'Curve of the Earth'. Harrison explained:
"I was born in the NHS and it has saved my life several times over. I spent so much time on wards growing up that they became a second home to me and inspired the first song I wrote. Over the years, I have come to see NHS nurses and doctors as our guardian angels, beautifully portrayed at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. But austerity measures over recent years have meant that the spectre of privatization has become a very real, and threatening prospect.
"Whilst in hospital last month for on-going leg surgery, I lay in bed watching President Trump's televised address to the British media, in which he boasted that NHS contracts would be part of future trade deals. It gave me the chills, as it must have done to many others. I felt especially fearful of what the future might hold for the elderly people in the beds around me, many of whom are already in danger of falling through the cracks of the social care system.
"Sometimes music can reach places deep within us that can’t be reached by words alone. On this, the 71st anniversary of the creation of the National Health Service, it feels right to release this song to express our gratitude."
The band will perform the song live at some local London NHS hospital radio stations this week. Following this, they support Bloc Party at Newcastle's Wasteland on July 12 before festival appearances at TRNSMT, Kendal Calling, Neverworld, and 110 Above.
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