The Specials announced a new cover album, sharing versions of 12 protest songs from 1924-2012.

“Protest Songs – 1924-2012” will be released on September 24 as the group’s first release on Island, and follows on from the 2019 album “Encore”.

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“People have been using music as a vehicle for protest since time immemorial,” bassist Horace Panter said of the new album. “Injustice is timeless.”

Prior to the album’s release, the band shared their first track “Freedom Highway,” a track written by the Staple Singers and written for the famous Selma Civil Rights Marches in Montgomery in 1965.

Listen to the version of The Specials on “Freedom Highway” below:

Across the 12 tracks on the album, The Specials also covers versions of tracks from Talking Heads, Bob Marley, Leonard Cohen and more.

See the artwork and tracklist of ‘Protest Songs – 1924-2012’ below:

1. “Freedom Highway” (The Staple Singers)
2. “Everyone knows” (Leonard Cohen)
3. “I don’t mind failing in this world” (Malvina Reynolds)
4. “Black, brown and white” (Big Bill Broonzy)
5. “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us Around” (traditional)
6. “Fuck All The Perfect People” (Chip Taylor and the New Ukrainians)
7. “My next door neighbor”
8. “Trouble Every Day” (Frank Zappa & Mothers of Invention)
9. “Listening to the wind” (Talking heads)
10. “Soldiers Who Wanna Be Heroes” (Rod McKuen)
11. “I live in a city” (Malvina Reynolds)
12. “Get up, get up” (Bob Marley)

The Specials are set to release the new album on a previously announced UK tour later this year. The date series begins at Margate at Dreamland on August 28, runs through September before ending with three London shows, two at the Roundhouse and one at the Troxy, at the end of the month.

Review of the group’s 2019 album ‘Encore’, NME wrote: “We need more thoughtful rebel records like ‘Encore’ than ever.”