by Jessica Corbett
Montaigne’s “READY,” says 350 Australia, is “a powerful call to action on the climate crisis.”

As the school climate strike movement continues in spite of summer vacation, Australian singer and songwriter Montaigne has released a new single and music video inspired by the youth who have taken to the streets around the world to demand that adults take bolder action to battle the global crisis.

“READY,” Montaigne told Teen Vogue this week, “is about this political moment, where humanity is starting to realize how actually cooked this planet is, that it never had to be like this, and that we have the power now to overthrow those who’ve forced us into this corner.”

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“It’s music that I’m proud of representing because I think that it reflects the feelings swirling around the current political shit-fest my generation is facing, and it attempts to transform the anxiety among those feelings into angry power,” explained Montaigne, whose given name is Jessica Cerro. “It’s like a fuel source.”

The advocacy group 350 Australia tweeted Friday that the new music video—which was released Wednesday—is “a powerful call to action on the #climatecrisis.”

Reporting on the video for the Australian news website Junkee, Jared Richards described the climate crisis as “an issue Australia’s government remains steadfast to ignore.”

Our new coal mine, Adani, is going ahead despite our nationwide March school strike protests reaching 1.5 million attendees, a very scary U.N. report demanding international action, and a recent paper suggesting that human civilization as we know it will likely crumble by 2050 if nothing changes. It’s enough to make you very angry—but Montaigne doesn’t want you to despair.

‘”READY’ is dedicated to young people who are not yet jaded and worn down by the realities of this world,” Montaigne told Teen Vogue about the single from her forthcoming second album. “Those who inspire us with the fire of anger against injustice so that we may be galvanized to stand up and demand what is right from our world leaders.”

In a Thursday tweet, Montaigne thanked everyone who was involved with making the video, which she called “an homage to the youth climate movement, and all justice movements around the world.”

Originally published by Common Dreams