Single reviewsThe Other Side Reviews

Madame So – Sick of it All (2025)

London’s indie art-punk outsider Madame So is no stranger to bending genre and breaking silence. With her latest track, ‘Sick of it All’, she crashes through the noise with a raw, furious anthem that’s equal parts musical Molotov and humanitarian wake-up call. In a time where apathy too often wears the crown, Madame So chooses rebellion, and the results are electrifying.

From the moment the track kicks in, you know you’re not in safe territory. Jagged guitars lurch into frame over a haunting video montage of war-torn cities and scorched earth. There’s no subtlety, no soft landing. “Look in the mirror. Do you see horror? Can’t you feel anger with the monster?” she seethes, glaring through the screen with the conviction of someone who’s really paying attention.

Written in spring 2024 amid a landscape of atrocities and international gaslighting, ‘Sick of it All’ is Madame So’s most politically charged offering to date. It’s a protest song in the truest punk sense, not just screaming into the void, but screaming back at the systems that create it. Madame So doesn’t name names, but the imagery is deafening: a gas-masked figure moving through desolation, a Palestinian flag raised in mourning, children caught in the crossfire while politicians play moral gymnastics. It’s not subtle, and that’s exactly the point.

The track is lean and unrelenting; it rides on scuzzy guitar riffs that feel like they’ve been ripped straight from a 2000s garage demo and electrified with purpose. There’s a nervous energy here that recalls early Savages, with a dash of PJ Harvey’s venom and the militant poetry of Patti Smith. It’s not polished, and thank God for that. This is protest music the way it’s supposed to sound: messy, loud, and honest.

What’s perhaps most compelling is the way Madame So toes the line between rage and responsibility. It would be easy for a track like this to tip into trauma voyeurism, but she is careful. “This song is for every community whose pain is conveniently ignored, every victim whose humanity is weighed against political interests,” she explains. That clarity of purpose sets her apart; she’s not capitalising on pain, she’s weaponising empathy.

Over a year since its writing, ‘Sick of it All’ lands with brutal relevance. In a media landscape still steeped in selective compassion and weaponised narratives, Madame So’s voice cuts through like a siren in fog. She’s not asking for your approval. She’s asking you to wake up. It’s not easy listening. It’s not meant to be. But it’s vital, and if you’ve got any heart left, it’ll rattle you right down to the bones.


Find out more about Madame So on her Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.


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