Ministry Announces New Album Moral Hygiene for October 2021 Release and Shares New Video for John Lewis-Inspired Song “Good Trouble”

Band Ministry has announced a new album called Moral Hygiene, set to be released on October 1 via Nuclear Blast. Moral Hygiene is the band’s 15th studio album and their first release since their 2018 album AmeriKKKant. In addition to their album announcement, the band is sharing a song from the album called “Good Trouble.”

“Good Trouble” is a reference to the late Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights activist and US Representative from 1987 to his death in 2020. Lewis was one of the 13 original Freedom Riders, a group of protestors who sought to desegregate public busses. “Good Trouble” was partially inspired by the Black Lives Matters protests of 2020, and the music video includes footage from a protest in Los Angeles taken by band member Al Jourgenson and his partner Liz Walton.

“I was watching the coverage last July around Lewis’ death and was in awe the next day when this entire letter from him was published in the New York Times. How suss was that to want to keep making progress after his death by thinking about the legacy he left? I was struck by the reflectiveness of his speech, knowing he was dying and making sure it was released because he saw trouble ahead. That is the moral hygiene of this album – we have to do something to change and I really hope we continue to act and live up to the idea of getting into good trouble for the benefit of society,” said Jourgensen about “Good Trouble” in a press release.

The song includes popular protest chants that echo over an instrumental, “We don’t get no justice, you don’t get no peace” can be heard over the roar of a guitar about a minute and 45 seconds in. The song is the second track on Moral Hygiene and follows the release of another single, “Alert Level.”

Recently, Ministry celebrated their 20th anniversary with performance of their songs “What About Us” and “Dead Practice.” They also lost guitarist Sin Quirin who had been with the band on and off since 2007.

Moral Hygiene track listing:

1. Alert Level
2. Good Trouble
3. Sabotage Is Sex
4. Disinformation
5. Search and Destroy
6. Believe Me
7. Broken System
8. We Shall Resist
9. Death Toll
10. TV Song #6 (Right Around The Corner Mix)

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat