“If you’re so mad, what are you gonna do about it?”: Emperor X Takes On Modern Geopolitics

Unified Field (2026) by Emperor X is the underrated standout album of the summer. Primarily produced and recorded in Ukraine, the 11-track, 34-minute emo-folk record tackles broad modern challenges including climate change, immigration, and the Russia-Ukraine war, blending fierce critique with intimate personal narratives. The project balances devastating realism in songs like “Pissing with the Flashlight On,” which captures the harsh realities of life in war-torn Ukraine, alongside comedic, allegorical fables like in “I Am a Beached Whale” and “Ostrich Toss.” Meanwhile, the title tracks that bookend the album, “Unified Field” and “Also Unified Field,” together with the midpoint, “Line Go Up Line Go Down,” operate as reflective political pieces charting Emperor X’s personal journey with activism and understanding of his own agency.

My personal favorite track, “Ostrich Toss,” demonstrates what the album does best by intertwining absurdist humor with poignant political critique. The track narrates kidnapping an ostrich from the zoo as an act of political rebellion. The song’s central motif is the question, “If you’re so mad, what are you going to do about it?” In this track, Emperor X asks us to confront our complacency in the face of environmental and political destruction. The passivity of our policymakers, as they continually fail to make substantive policy changes, brandishes this question before us. “Line Go Up Line Go Down” provides an answer to our feelings of inadequacy in response to global issues: “But they're powerless! / At the moment that's partially true / But not me and not her and not you.” Unified Field insists that our voices can still make a difference, even when we feel dwarfed by global crises. In a system designed to make us feel powerless, Unified Field is a long-overdue wake-up call.

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Dakota Gunnare is a sophomore in the College studying public policy with a minor in math.