I love music that tells a story. Music that has a point. Art with purpose.
Jamie Webster is an artist who has proved his capacity for this time and time again. When he’s not headlining Glastonbury or performing a homecoming show to 40,000 people at Sefton Park, Webster can be found in his studio, guitar and pen in hand, documenting the turmoil we are all living through, using his voice to spread awareness and to enact change.
This week Webster releases his second post-election single, ‘24 Hours In A&E’. The track follows this month’s earlier acoustic release ‘breadline’, however instead of shedding light on the issue of poverty and inequality, this time Webster takes aim at the years of Tory rule and cuts that have pushed our NHS to its breaking point.
Equal parts catchy and impactful, Webster has put his acoustic guitar on standby for now and delivered a track that is rich and upbeat sonically as he delves into a new sound, pulling influences from the New York hip-hop scene complete with his signature Bob Dylan-esque storytelling.
Fast, spoken word lyrics tell a first-person tale reflecting real people’s experiences in A&E, but more importantly it sheds light on the pressures the frontline NHS workers are facing.
Webster commented: “’24 Hours in A&E’ is a documentation of the state of decline in the NHS and the public health service under the Tories, compiling stories that come from my own experiences and those of others around me from times in A&E. It’s about good people from all walks of life, of all backgrounds, including people who were born here, who migrated here or are seeking asylum. It’s showing support for NHS staff, seeing the things they have to put up with due to the lack of funding and the lack of recruitment.
“So many of those working so hard to keep us fit and healthy have come to help us from overseas and things will only get better if we all call forth changes we need as one working-class community. In my eyes the issue has always been with the people upstairs designing the engine, not the people on the ground making the cogs turn.”
No one does it quite like Jamie Webster.