Rich Aucoin Shares Protest Song "How It Breaks"

The new single arrives alongside a politically-charged new video

BY Allie GregoryPublished Apr 17, 2020

In these trying times, Halifax native Rich Aucoin has shared a new protest song, drawing on the work of David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Rage Against the Machine, Rihanna and many more. The track — titled "How It Breaks" — arrives today alongside a politically-charged new music video.

Edited from footage of hundreds of news broadcasts and historical images, and prominently featuring a censored version of President Donald Trump, Aucoin has spliced together a visual work that highlights society's ongoing political divide between left and right.

Here's what he had to say about the video:

I wanted to create a link between the protesting of the present and the past. The idea was to demonstrate that the protests happening now that one can still choose to get involved with or not will be what future generations look back on the same way we revere the importance of protests of the past. The protests of today are making history and will be remembered; already the Women's March has aged with the understanding that it is amongst the greatest protests. I hoped that, watching the video, someone may feel inspired to join in the next time a call for action is made.

"How It Breaks" was recorded in Toronto and written while Aucoin was cycling across the States, touring in support of mental health charity. It's his first new material since spring of last year.

Aucoin's latest record was 2019's Release.

Watch the video for "How It Breaks" below.

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