The way the government treats refugees is very instructive because it shows you how they would treat the rest of us if they thought they could get away with it” – Tony Benn

Steve Mason has announced details of the release of his fifth solo album, Brothers & Sisters, which is released on Double Six on Friday 3rd March 2023.

His most open, honest and vibrant solo record to date, it marries the personal and the political but does so in an emotive and uplifting manner. Written against a backdrop of fear and uncertainty, and at a time when those in charge lurched from one disaster to the next mismanagement with increasing regularity, Brothers & Sisters is in fact an incredibly joyous, even spiritual, listen.

With musical contributions from feted Pakistani singer Javed Bashir, British gospel singers Jayando Cole, Keshia Smith, Connie McCall & Adrian Blake and Kaviraj Singh on the santoor  it’s a record about bringing people together through art, music and culture.

“To me, this record is a massive ‘Fuck you’ to Brexit,” explains Mason. “And a giant ‘Fuck you’ to anyone that is terrified of immigration because there is nothing that immigration has brought to this country that isn’t to be applauded. Can you imagine what this place would be like without that [immigration]? I mean what would it be like? Cornish pasties and morris dancing?.”

The album will be available on CD (with gatefold wallet and 16-page booklet), standard vinyl (double vinyl with gatefold sleeve and four-page booklet), independent shops and Domino Mart vinyl edition (double gold vinyl with gatefold sleeve, four-page booklet & four postcard set) and DL.

The first track to be taken from the album is ‘No More’ ft Javed Bashir and today Steve has shared a James Hankins directed video for the track. A visually stunning video featuring Steve and Javed it was filmed across the South of England and Lahore in Pakistan.

Talking about ‘No More’ Steve said: This track is about Imperialism and in a subtle way, relative to some of my other work, references Australia, Partition and Africa through a combination of lyrics and music. I like to imagine the spirits of these cultures and people haunting the families who profited and were involved in their destruction down through the generations. Never giving them real peace. I can never square in my mind the idea of going to a new country with such horror in mind and struggle to believe that those who carry out such deeds are in fact Human. Sitting in incredible splendour with everything around you, dripping in the blood of incredible and ancient civilisations. This subject has been gone over in depth by many highly intelligent people over the years and is of course nothing new but given the message behind this ‘FUCK BREXIT PRO IMMIGRATION’ album I felt a little history and context was needed.