Ed Dowie ‘David Is Unwell’

Most mornings before work I watch Victoria Derbyshire while I put my makeup on and drink coffee. Today I turned on as a woman was describing the sexual harassment she had suffered in the early days of her career. I don’t know why, but I assumed she must work in the film industry, I guess because of all the horror stories from that particular sector that are flooding the papers thick and fast at the moment. When it was revealed that she was working in the music industry (and that her harasser was still working within it) I wasn’t exactly surprised – I guess, saddened more than anything else. Because this is the industry I work in. And sexual assault, harassment, and rape are rife within the industry I call home. Will I become one of these statistics? Is it only a matter of time? In twenty years will a camera record my silhouette form as I recant my own assault in a digitally lowered voice? I had rather naively thought that things had got better since the horror show for women that was the 70’s and 80’s, but it seems that nothing has changed. And nothing will while a male majority are still pulling the strings, while they still sit at the head of these companies, major labels and independent labels. That being said, change is in the air, all because of these brave men and women who have called out the perpetrators of this culture of abuse. So maybe I shouldn’t be asking myself ‘is it just a matter of time before I myself am a victim of assault?’. Maybe I should be asking instead, ‘is it just a matter of time before I am the head of my own company?’ Who knows how the tide will turning, but one things for sure: it is turning. Anyway, right now I’m listening to the new single from Ed Dowie, ‘David Is Unwell‘. With tongue-in-cheek brass beeps underpinning endearingly chaste vocals and quaint mandolin riffs, this track is at once creepy and sweet, making for an uneasy sound world. Check out the similarly unsettling video below: