Saint Jude ♰ Mark L know exactly how to land a cinematic gut punch; by opening Get Better with a PSA about the human rights crisis in the Congo’s cobalt mines, before a mellow minimalist interlude of sombre folksy experimentalism ensues, the juxtapositional tension leaves your senses heightened.
When the bars kick in, pointing out the irony of being all about Palestine while it remains a trending topic, you become all too susceptible to the rappers’ hold-no-prisoners approach to refusing to let hypocrisies and atrocities lie. The languid delivery, free from the artifice of aggression, tempts listeners onto Saint Jude ♰ Mark L’s heightened level of consciousness as the artfully woozy instrumentals trip your senses into surrendering to the reality that we are never going to care as much about the mines in Congo, because the mainstream news never demanded that we should.
Formed by London lyricist Saint Jude and Cwmbran producer Mark L, the duo build their sound from urban cinematic foundations, soulful shadow, and traditional hip-hop weight, with Roots Manuva’s Bleeds acting as a clear spiritual reference point. As the closing track from their EP Saints Without a Church, Get Better calls out the blood on the tech in your pocket, the billionaires profiting from cobalt, and the African labour buried beneath modern convenience.
Get Better is now available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube.
Review by Amelia Vandergast
