[The British spoken word poet Kate Tempest released Let Them Eat Chaos today—a new long poem published by Picador]
As with much of Tempest’s work, the poem was written for live performance and is also featured on an album of the same name which has been gaining positive reviews and consistent airplay. Tempest performed the poem live on BBC2 on Saturday night 1st October to great critical response.
The poem’s subject matter revolves around seven inhabitants of a single London street who are unknown to one another. The characters awake at 4am one morning as a storm rages throughout the city and forces them into a collision course with their fate. Tempest tackles issues of right wing politics, climate change, selfies, addiction, capitalism, consumer culture and celebrities with a modern lyricism that feels electric, authentic and totally her own. Let Them Eat Chaos has a potency that only Tempest could spark. It feels cataclysmic, inevitable.
Tempest was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for her debut album Everybody Down and received the Ted Hughes Award for the performance poem Brand New Ancients.
Watch the trailer and opening track for her new album below.
