KT Tunstall has said her new Christmas charity single is a message to politicians that there are “consequences if you don’t tell the truth”.
Alongside a group of session musicians, Tunstall, 44, has recorded a cover of John Lennon’s protest song Gimme Some Truth, demanding more transparency in society.
Tunstall’s band, called The Full Story, released the song on the 39th anniversary of Lennon’s murder in New York City, with proceeds going to the charity War Child.
The singer, who grew up in St Andrews, Scotland, said she guessed that Lennon would not be surprised at the current political climate.
She told the PA news agency: “We just cannot dodge the fact that these lyrics are completely appropriate for the situation we are in today, in the same way that they would have been back then.
“It’s easy to say ‘Lennon would be horrified’ or whatever, but I didn’t know John Lennon. He might not have been that surprised.
“I think that that is maybe part of the problem, that we all become used to it and it becomes the norm, that we don’t expect truth from our politicians.
“And we won’t get it unless we demand it. I don’t know the answer to that because, for me personally, I am an optimist so I’m always really amazed when things go backwards.”
Musicians on the track include Procol Harum organist Josh Phillips, former Eric Clapton and current Sir Tom Jones bassist Dave Bronze, and Sir Paul McCartney guitarist Hamish Stuart.
Tunstall added: “I live in America so I have had a few years of living in that country and seeing how that country operates.
“I think that the Trump White House as it is at the moment, is definitely pushing that boundary of there being a set bar of where truth-telling and lying is separated.
“It seems to be spilling out elsewhere.
“I would like to reiterate on behalf of all of us that it is not a song that is a song that is pitched at a political side.
“It is pitched at truth. It is pitched at people with a platform, with a voice, and asking for them to take the responsibility seriously, and know that there are consequences if you don’t tell the truth.”
Gimme Some Truth by The Full Story is out now.