As outspoken and refined as ever, Ziggy Ramo is at his strongest on Human?.
“From little things, big things grow!” – after singing along with Paul Kelly performing his original chorus lyrics, also recognising those familiar harmonica parts – both of which are almost part of our DNA – Ziggy Ramo’s version of this classic song, Little Things, hits home.
Vincent Lingiari, who led the Gurindji Strike that grew into the passing of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, is still honoured within Ramo’s update, but this multidisciplinary Wik and Solomon Islander artist also delves into a side of history that hasn’t been told: a First Nations perspective on invasion, intergenerational trauma, lost history and Indigenous deaths in custody.
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Did you know? The OG Kelly/Kev Carmody-penned song was released in 1991, the same year as the Royal Commission into Indigenous deaths in custody.
Throughout Human?, and especially Stand For Something, Zoë Barry’s heartsick string arrangements and Sydney-based singer-songwriter Vonn’s sublime additional vocals add gravitas.
“You didn’t give your life/ You weren’t an ANZAC/ If you’re gonna love your soldiers/ You’ve gotta love the blacks…” – Ramo invites us to recognise our own hypocrisy on April 25th. And it doesn’t get more real than Hopeless, which opens, “My mother still wonders if I’m gonna kill myself/ When I get low like before…”
Should we add Ramo’s album, and the non-fiction book of the same name it was written in conjunction with, to the Australian Curriculum? Abso-bloody-lutely! We need to keep having these difficult convos and move towards historical acceptance.
Human? is unflinching, important work. And Ramo says it best on his latest single: “Our nation needs to confront its shame.”
LABEL: RAMO RECORDS
RELEASE DATE: 9 AUGUST
Listen to Human? here.
