Mystery Jets have premiered a new song entitled Hospital Radio whilst offering a heartfelt tribute to the NHS.
“I was born in the NHS and it has saved my life several times over,” the band’s frontman Blaine Harrison, who was born with Spina Bifida, writes. “I spent so much time on wards growing up that they became a second home to me and inspired the first song I wrote.”
“Over the years, I have come to see NHS nurses and doctors as our guardian angels, beautifully portrayed at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. But austerity measures over recent years have meant that the spectre of privatization has become a very real, and threatening prospect.
“Whilst in hospital last month for on-going leg surgery, I lay in bed watching President Trump’s televised address to the British media, in which he boasted that NHS contracts would be part of future trade deals. It gave me the chills, as it must have done to many others. I felt especially fearful of what the future might hold for the elderly people in the beds around me, many of whom are already in danger of falling through the cracks of the social care system.
“Sometimes music can reach places deep within us that can’t be reached by words alone. On this, the 71st anniversary of the creation of the National Health Service, it feels right to release this song to express our gratitude.”
Mystery Jets will perform the song as part of some London hospital radio sessions this week before supporting Bloc Party in Newcastle on July 12th and appearances at festivals including TRNSMT and Kendal Calling.