ME REX rang in 2026 with the new single "Angel Hammer," which saw the playful London indie rockers go a slightly more experimental route. This week, they're back with another one called "Protection Runes," which is even more of a departure from the hook-heavy guitar pop ME REX have earned a strong reputation for. It's backed with a drum 'n' bass-inspired beat, twinkly synths in lieu of riffs, and dreamy processed vocals that tap into feelings of desperation and existentialism: "Do you believe in evil people?/ Do you believe in transformation?/ Do you believe the world will love you?/ What will you do while you're waiting?"
The band explain of the track on Instagram:
The song came about after I saw a pair of runic symbols spraypainted on the side of each of the electrical panel boxes for the streets surrounding my house. I don’t know how long they had been there for before I noticed them, nobody else seems to pay them any attention.
Algiz and Ansuz are signs of protection, I don’t know who they are meant to protect or against what. I don’t know the intention behind using the electrical boxes. I do know that germanic runes have at times been co-opted by far right groups and displayed with the intention to intimidate. These characters could signify a threat, a protective spell, a marker of territory or a cry for safety.
Last summer I tore down a St George’s Cross that had just been ziptied to a lamppost in Churchill Square in Brighton. I dragged it through the road as I cycled away. Men in masks and hi-vis jackets shouted after me, but they had unfortunately hundreds more flags in their cardboard boxes. Either way, it's important to fight far right nationalism wherever you see it.
Check out "Protection Runes" below.
