Edinburgh-based Paper Rifles take aim at current political climate with Traitor's Hill

Set against the heated backdrop of the Brexit campaign, the record is a treatise on the polarisation of political discourse in the UK.

Public debate became increasingly Americanised and continued to sour. A new prime minister took power, yet another General Election was held, and the country prepared to leave the EU, all with the coronavirus pandemic looming on the horizon.

Then, as the band were applying the finishing touches, another wave of turmoil engulfed the country - sporadic clashes between Antifa and fascists broke out as the UK responded to the Black Lives Matters movement.

It's clear that the state of affairs over the last few years provided Paper Rifles with not just the inspiration but a quite appropriate setting to release Traitor’s Hill.

Jon Dick, the band’s singer and guitarist, told The Weekender that betrayal is perhaps the strongest theme explored in the lyrics. He insists the album is not to be viewed as being critical of any one political actor – but rather the wider systemic problems.

He says: “It’s not a concept record or anything like that, but it is definitely about dissatisfaction, frustration, anger, pessimism both politically and personally. Who was it who said: ‘the personal is the political’? That’s not far off.

“In particular, I think there is a theme of betrayal in there - betrayal by those in power, betrayal of the future, betrayal of nuance. It’d be easy to point to idiots like [Boris] Johnson or [Donald] Trump as the ‘traitor’ of the title, but they are just representations of a much deeper problem.”

He adds: “I want my wee girl to grow up in an outward-looking, compassionate, connected and positive country. I’m not sure the UK is moving in that direction - in fact, the very opposite.”

“A genuinely good record needs to be in some way relevant to its time, and I suppose Traitor’s Hill is the crystallisation of that for us.

Paper Rifles have never been a band to shy away from political conversation, but the singer concedes that they may well have waded in much deeper with their latest effort.

Dick continues: “To be honest, Paper Rifles have been fairly political from the off, even when it was just me playing acoustically. I don’t think I could really write songs otherwise.  That said, I would agree that Traitor’s Hill is the most political thing we’ve done.

“It was written and recorded against the backdrop of Brexit and all that had enabled, and then mixed and released as coronavirus took hold, slave trader statues fell and the Black Lives Matter campaign really gained traction.

“A genuinely good record needs to be in some way relevant to its time, and I suppose Traitor’s Hill is the crystallisation of that for us.

“It’s not a happy record, but I’m also extremely conscious that the opinion of another four white guys is not necessarily what anyone needs and is certainly not the be-all and end-all of commentary.

“One review said it was political without being preachy, and there’s probably something in that. Fundamentally, I think music like ours has to be for something; it has to be both a mirror and a signpost. I’ve never been into bands who didn’t strive to mean something, however trite that sounds.”

The album was a purely independent exercise. The songs were recorded mixed and mastered by the band’s drummer James Johnson. It was just about wrapped up when lockdown kicked in, with post-production conducted through emails.

“When it’s clear that you’ve poured everything into a record, and that it is honest, angry and coherent, people get on board

As spring was approaching, and the Paper Rifles were on the cusp of releasing, they had discussions, as most artists have, about whether to put material out at all during lockdown.

Dick recalls: “We had it good to a few weeks before we actually released it and the debate was whether or not we should wait until whatever things might look like post-lockdown.

“After a while, though, it was pretty clear that the album needed to come out at the same time as everything was going crazy and that its relevance to what is happening now was more important than holding off to do a launch gig.

“Now is definitely the right time for that album to be out in the world.”

A few weeks after release and Dick is encouraged by the response to Traitor’s Hill. The band were also taken aback by the number of people who committed to buying in advance.

“We’re a DIY band, doing everything ourselves with help from our friends and we all work full-time jobs," The singer adds. "We know we’re not going to be zooming off to headline Glastonbury or record in LA or any of that stuff.

“All that said, the reaction has been pretty great. We’d never done a pre-order before, and it was humbling to see so many people put their faith in our record before hearing it.

“I think it has sold more copies in its first week than most of our other releases did in their first six months, and that feels great and a vindication of the decision to put it out now and not to shy away from writing about the world as we find it now.

“When it’s clear that you’ve poured everything into a record, and that it is honest, angry and coherent, people get on board. I think it also helps that the songs are great, but then, of course, I would say that.”

Traitor’s Hill is available to buy online or stream through Spotify.

Paper Rifles:-

Jon Dick: Vocals and guitar
Kevin Cameron: Guitar and vocals
Kieran Andrews: Bass
James Johnson: Drums