Kate Nash investigates freedom of speech on new single, "Freedom Of Me"

"Freedom Of Me" follows previous singles "Famine" and "Spilt Milk", and sees Nash address the ways in which people abuse the idea of "Free Speech".

“I’ve noticed the globalisation of this American approach to and obsession with freedom of speech on social media. We think of George Orwell’s 1984 when it comes to control over what we can or cannot say and it makes us feel like it’s incredibly important but is it? I don’t really think freedom of speech is so important and I think America is selling a lie. The far right are very concerned with and protective of it. And I'm obviously someone who speaks out about what she thinks. But in the UK our speech is governed by national legislation including the Public Order Act 1986, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006, the Online Safety Act 2023, and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. Rightly so in my opinion."

"I would argue my right to exist free from rape and violence with access to healthcare without political debate is far more important than freedom of speech," she continues. Same goes for a trans person. My right to protest is fundamental. The song is also a reflection on how the media treats women when it comes to rape cases. I wrote this right after watching Dispatches - Russell Brand: In Plain Sight and watched the commentary online. It’s quite dif icult as a woman to listen to the derogatory and casual things people say, watch the way women are dissected, the mistrust, the anger, the jokes, then boredom.

"I listened to the radio the next morning and people that worked for these massive tv corporations were feigning shock. I thought, how could you be shocked? It made me angry that we pretend this isn’t normal. I was also listening to the Covid inquiry into the Conservative Party at that time, men in positions of power who literally run the country saying things like “dodging stilettos from that cunt’ really stuck with me. It’s not lost on me that this song is dropping the week that Russell Brand is on trial and we are reading about the Cornell 7. The terrible thing about this song is how it will always be relevant.”