Hot Milk have released the rampant ‘Insubordinate Ingerland’, a quintessentially tongue-in-cheek take on the band’s home turf, their own accidental football anthem. It might be dressed up as an open-top bus parade, but the song’s sarcastic undertone encapsulates the album in a nutshell.
“A necessary excursion that was born quickly and forcibly. We had no choice in this song coming out of us, probably the quickest song we ever wrote lyrically. In modern-day England, it is difficult to know where we stand in a wishy washy world of identity politics. Who are we? Who are they telling us we are? What do we stand for? Why is the poverty gap widening? Why are old people freezing? Why is the NHS in disarray? Is our culture just the pub? But I love the pub? Is that bad? Am I just on the bevs to forget the bollocks outside? I’m so confused. This song is just that, a confused, hyperbolic look and an aggravated poke at ourselves. I’m England til I die… because I have no choice and this place might be the death of me yet,” says Han Mee.
Jim Shaw continues: “The fun thing about ‘Insubordinate Ingerland’ is that Han has had that tattooed on her terribly for a number of years as a sort of reflection as to the crumbling state of a nation that tends to do what it wants. For better or for worse. She thought, ‘Fuck it, let’s turn my stupid stick ‘n’ poke into a song’ and here we are. What’s extra fun about this song is that we roped in so many mates to make it… the gang vocals were recorded by Jim in his front room in Salford with all our mates after tea one night. The video was shot in Bolton with our mates as extras and our long-term collaborator and friend Kennedy as director. It looks a lot more expensive than it was…Good lad, Kennedy.”