A mostly instrumental form of music like jazz isn’t the most immediate artistic vehicle for political engagement. Vocal-less combos interested in social commentary have to slide their messages in on the side through song titles, album artwork, maybe some spicy samples. The polemic will be less integrated in the songs than the secondary production supporting them.
The title of Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few’s 2024 album The World Is On Fire certainly flags their intent to make musical commentary on the combustible character of the post-pandemic era. But ultimately, the range of sounds in the songs here provides a much more nuanced aural take on the constant roil of events that misshapes our lives.
Song titles like “The Time Is Now,” “Trials And Tribulations,” “The Hate You Give, Is The Love You Lose,” and “Amerikkka The Ugly” forgo subtlety. At the same time, the music moves from hard, urgent bop to lush, pastoral tones, through squalls of free jazz to more spiritual, Coltranesque numbers, suggesting a light, rather than just fire, that could lead us out of the darkness.
The World Is On Fire says so much without “saying” anything at all, relying on music, and the emotion it evokes, to stir consideration of where America (and the wider world) is at politically and spiritually.
— Chris Yurkoski is a writer living in Ottawa, ON, who also performs policy analysis on socio-economic issues for the federal government. Most recently, his poems have appeared in The Temz Review and The Creekside Magazine.
You can read Chris Yurkoski's poetry in Issue 307 (Spring 2026). Order the issue now!
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