When you first click play on MF Tomlinson’s ‘Last Days Of Rome’ you’ll be greeted - or should I say shook to your very foundations - by a fearsome guitar riff and gospel keys marinated in fire and brimstone. It’s a visceral atmosphere that’s swiftly cut to a moment of nihilistic brevity, “Sometimes I wonder about life I live, / What is the point of my existence?”. While these are the words of MF Tomlison, they’re no doubt shared in the minds of many who watch from the sidelines as our world disintegrates further into environmental destruction, political unrest and economic doom. As the London-based artist says of this apocalyptic theme: “Now, in 2020 my homeland of Australia has been consumed by fire, Brexit looms and in the US the situation worsens with strikes in Iran. Yet somehow, our lives continue - this song is made up of all the thoughts that whirl around in the back of our minds as we go about our days, haunted by the knowledge that this might be the end - the ‘Last Days of Rome’.” It’s a stark reminder to those who need it and a confirmation to those who are already fully aware that we’re on the verge of breaking. The message comes further to the fore in Tomlinson’s spoken word section at the end of the track which was inspired by Mary Beard’s book Women & Power, of which he comments that “her brilliant words were the last piece of the puzzle in a song that begins by lamenting what might be slipping away but ultimately ends up calling to question if what ‘we’ are fighting to save is even the ideal.” We recommend savouring MF Tomlinson’s ‘Last Days Of Rome’. - Hannah Thacker