Teaming up with poet and playwright Zia Ahmed, experimental quintet leather.head have released new track ‘from the river, to the sea’. In the several months since Israel has begun committing atrocities in Palestine, this is a phrase that has been heard from social media posts to solidarity marches. But how much have we really listened? It’s never too soon to start, and with this collaboration as a conduit, a necessary message can be received. Fusing Ahmed’s spoken word prowess and the articulate fervour of leather.head instrumentation, ‘from the river, to the sea’ is a product of organic chemistry. With the addition of Ahmed in live shows, an unrecorded track blossomed into an anxious, haunting and sombrely triumphant number. Promoting Palestinian visibility, the lyrics are something of a creative smorgasbord – mixing contributions from both Ahmed and leather.head, as well as words from poets Noor Hindi and Mahmoud Darwish. Its initial release on Bandcamp has been in good conscience, with all proceeds donated to the Defendant Solidarity Network and the Youth of Sumud, charities which support activists in the UK and Palestinians resisting expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, respectively. As the track begins, the guitar mingles before landing in a stint of winding post-rock chaos, ringing through with bold, muddy riffs, an overdriven cry and quick, driving percussion. It all slows down to allow for Ahmed’s first verse. He is composed in his delivery, but this doesn’t make the lyrics any less devastating. 'If they ask you about Gaza, tell them in Gaza there is a martyr, aided by a martyr, photographed by a martyr while another martyr bids him goodbye and another joins in his burial prayers,' is a cutting exposé of the vicious attack on Palestinian lives. When the instrumentation returns to the forefront, it feels momentarily pensive as a saxophone broods against the ebb and flow of guitar and bass. Leading up to the next half of Zia's poem, the sound is imbued with rage. 'When I die, I promise to haunt you forever/The sound of drones won't drown out hope', are spine-tingling, echoing the frustration and determination held by many. With cacophonous screams, a frenzied saxophone, flurry of cymbals and bass notes, there's a moment where everything feels lost. However, horns position themselves with a tone that is mournful, aiming to be sanguine as a crowd chants 'from the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free.'’, this only emphasising the necessity of coming together to resist Their first release since their 2023 EP welded, leather.head have created something special and important with the help of Zia Ahmed. Speaking on the track, the band has said: “The song is a call for Palestinian liberation, a call to strengthen our solidarity with Palestinians and their right to resist/exist. It is also explicitly a rejection of Zionism and the settler-colonial violence of Israel’s apartheid and genocidal state. We must not become complacent and desensitised to the horrors committed by Israel, the news will move on but we must continue to resist. What’s going on in Palestine isn’t a ‘humanitarian crisis’, or a war, or a religious conflict, or Israel’s ‘right to self-defence’, it is a continuation and escalation of the Zionist project to colonise, occupy and ethnically cleanse Palestine. It is a genocide. It is an occupation. It is apartheid. It is backed unquestioningly by our political, corporate, and media elites. We have a duty to resist; protest, picket, boycott, blockade, sabotage, educate, organise, agitate…to do whatever we collectively can until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea.” -Kayla Sandiford