Leather.head Collaborates with Zia Ahmed on Palestinian Resistance Fundraiser Track
“From the River, to the Sea” out today.
London-based experimental five-piece leather.head has teamed up with acclaimed poet and playwright Zia Ahmed to release their powerful new track, “From the River, to the Sea.” This track, aimed at raising funds for Palestinian resistance, is out today, July 18th.
The band, consisting of siblings Toby (vocals, guitar), Josh (saxophone, vocals), and Aidan (bass, vocals), along with Charlie (guitar, trumpet, vocals) and Cole (drums), will celebrate the release with a party at Avalon Cafe on July 19th. The event will feature performances by Black Fondu, Another;Country$$$, and Smokedworld, with DJ sets from Cigotine and Ifeoluwa. Tickets are available here.
Leather.head’s collaboration with Zia Ahmed began after Toby improvised guitar to Zia’s poetry at a Solidarity Tapes event. This led to the integration of Zia’s spoken word into their live sets, blending it with their unique musical improvisations. The new track is a reworking of an unrecorded piece that evolved during a fundraiser for Palestine solidarity activists in Glasgow. The song’s improvised outro ended with a spontaneous chant, “from the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which became a central refrain.
“From the River, to the Sea” combines lines from Palestinian poets Noor Hindi and Mahmoud Darwish with contributions from Zia Ahmed and leather.head. This fusion aims to amplify Palestinian voices and express the band’s solidarity with Palestine, especially given their country’s complicity in the ongoing conflict.
The track will be available on Bandcamp, with all proceeds going to the Defendant Solidarity Network, which supports activists against the Israeli war machine in the UK, and the Youth of Sumud, a Palestinian group resisting settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Recorded at Teeth Studios in April 2024, the track was produced by Jamie Neville, who donated his time and resources to ensure all funds go directly to the cause.
