In the past three weeks, Bob Vylan have gone from being relative unknowns to one of the most talked-about musical acts of the moment. On the off-chance that the British punk-rap duo is still unknown to you, a lot of that attention stemmed from their Glastonbury set last month, where vocalist Bobby Vylan led the crowd in a "death to the IDF" chant in solidarity with Palestine. Despite being dropped from a number of festival lineups and getting their US visas revoked, they're still explicitly speaking out in support of Palestine, which is awesome. Some people don't think that's awesome, however, and Damon Albarn is among them.
Albarn recently spoke to the UK Times ahead of the release of Bahidorá, a new album from the multinational musical collective he co-founded, Africa Express. "If I have a hope of being of any use to anybody it is giving people a platform,” Albarn said of the project. "I don’t want to be loud, to shout about freedom and atrocity. I want to stand equally with other cultures in a united, cultural reaction to populism and militarism."
He continued: "Because part of the huge issue of Palestine is the way that their identity is being eroded so brutally. So Africa Express could go into Palestine. It’s not about politics, it’s about culture. And so I would also want to go to Israel and bring people together. If I was asked to go to Russia I would go. I’d go to Ukraine too... My point is that you can’t have an opinion about a culture unless you’ve made some effort to communicate with it."
I'd argue that politics and culture are pretty inherently connected, but I digress. Albarn was then asked about Bob Vylan, who are indeed loud and shout about freedom and atrocity. "[Their Glastonbury set] was one of the most spectacular misfires I’ve seen in my life," he said. "Especially when he started to goose-step in tennis gear. I mean I’ve had my moments -- not quite as catastrophic as that but you do get carried away. The old testosterone gets you going. But it’s unfortunate. Everyone’s just so hysterical... I’ve been doing this a very long time and I still haven’t got any bloody answers. You want to say what you believe in and what you feel. That’s important, but it comes with huge caveats. We live and learn, or not."
Interesting of Albarn to acknowledge testosterone and clothing instead of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians! After that interview was published, Bobby Vylan took to social media to redirect the focus back towards the actual issues at hand. "A little help for any other out of touch 90s musician asked about Bob Vylan at Glastonbury," he wrote. "Your response should probably resemble something to the affect of: 'Over 58k Palestinians killed since Oct 7th 2023. Over 700 killed while attempting to get aid... Over 1400 medical workers killed since Oct 7th. Genocide is being live streamed for all to see and the UK is not simply allowing it to continue but facilitating it, along with the United States. Why are we talking about a punk band?' End."
Now that's a good response. See those posts below.
1/2. A little help for any other out of touch 90s musician asked about Bob Vylan at Glastonbury. Your response should probably resemble something to the affect of:
“Over 58k Palestinians killed since Oct 7th 2023.
Over 700 killed while attempting to get aid…— Bob Vylan (@BobbyVylan) July 16, 2025
2/2. Over 1400 medical workers killed since Oct 7th.
Genocide is being live streamed for all to see and the UK is not simply allowing it to continue but facilitating it, along with the United States. Why are we talking about a punk band?” End.— Bob Vylan (@BobbyVylan) July 16, 2025
