Connie Constance shares ‘Kamikaze’ feat Sleaford Mods member Jason Williamson
It’s always disappointing when a song that’s meant to be an empowering “feminist anthem” falls flat. The latest track from indie rocker Connie Constance, ‘Kamikaze’, is a rework from last year’s Miss Power and features the always-recognisable voice of Sleaford Mods member Jason Williamson. From the very first second, the song is essentially no-brakes shouting until it ends less than two-and-a-half minutes later.
Released in November of 2022, Constance’s Miss Power stapled her down as an experimentalist and energy-driven performer in alternative music, but it could be argued that this track would have been better off left alone.
“It’s about the western beauty standard women are expected to uphold especially those in the media eye and also the idea that we’re all meant to have it together all the time,” Constance said about the song. “It’s talking about Amy Winehouse and more recently Caroline Flack and how they were treated by the media instead of cared for in a time of need.”
It’s as important as ever to have music highlighting women’s experiences, especially music that takes aim at the ever-present advantages the patriarchy uses, but ‘Kamikaze’ is lacking both the depth or progression to actually make you want to listen more than once or twice.
The song chugs forward from the very start, constantly propelled by gurgling guitars and frenetic drums, with grainy “whoops” and “woohoos” actually some of the strongest and catchiest bits.
The sound itself is undoubtedly maximalist; it’s angry, chaotic, and abrasive. That in itself is admittedly quite enjoyable. But paired with the lyrics that sometimes sound as if they’re taken from mid-2010’s feminist Tumblr, it veers dangerously close to trite territory.
For a song made to empower women and call out the toxicity of the patriarchy, the choice to even include a male voice seems counterintuitive rather than an attempt at irony. “Although the initial concept was for me to come in as an additional voice from her perspective, I felt it was disingenuous to present myself as someone with first-hand experience of the patriarchy, so I came at it from the other angle: the male counter, the gatekeeper,” Williamson said about the collaboration.
In reality, it mostly feels like Williamson is spitting nonsense into your ear, which in the context of the song, actually works depending on which way you look at it. But ultimately, the delivery of his own verses will likely make you cringe a little.
Despite the strong instrumentals and quick runtime, unfortunately, it seems that the decision to rework this one was a bit of a kamikaze in itself.
You can listen to ‘Kamikaze’ feat. Jason Williamson below.
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