Our relationship to food is the foundation upon which this civilization is built. It’s how we engage with the environment, with our bodies, with each other. It nurtures cultures and communities; it is fundamental to survival.
Matthew Herbert has long been interested in the politics of food and the systems that govern its production, distribution and consumption. There is the controversial One Pig (2011) and Plat du Jour (2005), which employed augmented recordings of objects relating to industrial food production; and the lesser known documentary Listen Like A Banana (2022) that tracked the yellow fruit from plantation to supermarket. Going as far back as the turn of the millennium, Herbert’s abrasive alter ego Radio Boy mused on the destructive nature of genetically modified food, while Tesco (2012), credited to Wishmountain, is composed from a shopping list of ordinary junk food products.
All this to say that Herbert’s latest album, The UK Has More Food Banks Than Branches Of McDonalds (or rather, theukhasmorefoodbanksthanbranchesofmcdonalds.com), is the latest variation on a theme that has interested the composer for the better part of a quarter century. In typical Herbert fashion, the album rests upon a conceptual framework. In this instance, it centres on social inequality and food insecurity. The sounds therein are sourced from food bank items: pasta, tinned fruit, tampons. Each track singles out a product and exploits its sonic qualities, transforming, for example, a mundane toilet roll into a dry shuffling beat. Track titles such as ‘Tinned fruit (is one of the most requested items by food banks)’ and ‘(Food banks ask for oats rather than highly processed breakfast) cereals’ are provocations intended to motivate the listener into action. The official website provides additional statistics and prompts for donating to charity or doing something politically engaged.
It’s a quirky dance record but, for the most part, the percussion is arid and the textures heavy – weighed down by Herbert’s uncompromising subject matter. Key track ‘Pasta (is not a luxury)’ bubbles up in claustrophobic polyphony, while ‘Tinned vegetables (shouldn’t be unaffordable in a rich country)’ pairs a thumping house kick with metallic clunks recalling the domestic conceit of Herbert’s late 90s breakthrough Around The House. The barrage of sound rarely lets up and relief is deliberately absent – the record is agitprop arguing for systemic change, after all. With the climate emergency on the doorstep and perpetual conflicts threatening global food security, not to mention the UK government advising citizens to stockpile essentials, whether we decide to listen is down to us.
theukhasmorefoodbanksthanbranchesofmcdonalds.com is released by Accidental.
Ilia Rogatchevski
Originally published by The Quietus, October 2026
