Song of the year, number 2: LOUD WOMEN – Reclaim These Streets (Official video)

Written by a furiously angry Cassie Fox in the wake of the murders of Sarah Everard and Blessing Olusegun, 'Reclaim These Streets' was released as a fundraiser for Women's Aid and featured the talents of 64 vocalists. It was soon dubbed "The feminist Band Aid", a nod to the 1984 fundraiser, and to the fact that Siobhan Fahey (as one third of Bananarama) featured on both 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and on 'Reclaim These Streets'. Given that the song was essentially a DIY release, it did remarkably well, picking up a decent amount of both radio play and media interest in the first couple of weeks after its release and reaching number 57 in the iTunes chart in its first week. While clearly a snapshot of a very specific moment in time, the song is catchy enough to transcend the moment and punk enough to endure as a song in its own right. 

LOUD WOMEN – Reclaim These Streets (Official video)

64 contributing vocalists. "The Feminist Band Aid". 'Reclaim These Streets' is a charity single like no other. 

The brainchild of LOUD WOMEN's Cassie Fox, who also wrote the song (aside from the rap section, which was written and performed by Brix Smith), the project was organised in response to the deaths of Sarah Everard and Blessing Olusegun and was inspired by Fox's sense of "rage and frustration" As she says, "Two women a week are killed by men. Refuge services are having to turn away one in two survivors of violence. And yet refuge funding has been cut by one quarter since 2010. This is a song of feminist solidarity and hope - all women and gender non-conforming people have a right to walk safely on every street, and be safe in their own home."

Patsy Stevenson, the woman whose image was published around the world not so many weeks ago when she was pinned to the ground by members of the Metropolitan Police at a vigil for Sarah Everard, is one of the 64 vocalists featured on the track. She is joined by regular LOUD WOMEN guests such as Janey Starling (ex-Dream Nails), Charley Stone ( Salad, Gay Dad, Desperate Journalist), Estella Adeyeri (Big Joanie) and Helen McCookerybook as well as Penfriend, Kel from The Empty Page and... Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama, Shakespear's Sister), who ends the track.

A surging, urgent slice of punk rock that is unflinching and uncompromising in its lyrics, message, sense of urgency and rage, it will stay with you long after you finish watching. 

The song is available to buy across all streaming platforms (including Bandcamp) and all proceeds go to Women's Aid.