Though we’ve had our fair share of great protest music coming out of the U.S. in the past year–Michael Franti and Spearhead’s Yell Fire!, Neil Young’s Living with War, “God Bless America” by James McMurtry–a lot of the best examinations of stateside politics and policies have come from overseas.

Ever since her U.K. debut, Burning Dorothy (released when she was just 17), Thea Gilmore has been willing to speak her mind, and she’s got a rare gift for commentary and articulation. On her new record, Harpo’s Ghost–her seventh, if we’re counting–she offers up “We Built a Monster,” which can either be interpreted as a meditation on patriotism and the American behemoth or on the globalization of consumerism. What’s remarkable is that, read either way, it’s a razor-sharp song, which can only suggest that the duality was Thea’s–and co-writer Mike Scott’s–intent. Check out “We Built a Monster”:

Or, if you’re looking for 3 minutes of pop solace in a mad, mad world, try “Call Me Your Darling”:

I also like the turns in “Cheap Tricks”:

–Melanie Shrawder