Deptford Sound Collective is less a band than a loose, ever-changing crew of musicians, artists, and activists from South East London, all rallying under the banner #LoveNotHate. Their method is a good tune with a wink, using humour, irony, and bright arrangements to take on social issues without wagging a finger. They made their debut in February 2026 with “Give Me. Give Me. Give Me, I Want It All.,” a send-up of greed and power set to a classic 80s disco strut, and followed it up with “We All Need A Cat.”
Whoever Wins, AI Wins
The new single, out October 23, takes its name from a throwaway line President Trump delivered in September after tech leaders called for a slowdown on artificial intelligence. The collective grab that phrase and run with it, asking why so much money and attention is being poured into the AI race while poverty, housing, war, and inequality are left waiting their turn. The point is not that technology is the enemy, but that the priorities are badly out of balance.
What makes it land is that none of this arrives as a lecture. The song is built for movement, riding a high-energy Brazilian dance groove with sleek, forward-looking production and synth lines that snap and flicker over the beat. The vocals sit lower and darker against all that bounce, and the contrast gives the track a slightly ominous edge, like a party happening in the shadow of something nobody wants to bring up. It gets you moving long before it gets you thinking, and that seems to be the whole idea.
There is more on the way, too. A music video with a futuristic look is set to accompany the single, and the collective will play their first London show on November 23 at a Consent 4 Gaza event.
Final Thoughts
“Whoever Wins, AI Wins” proves protest music can still fill a dancefloor. Deptford Sound Collective have something to say, and they have found a seriously fun way to say it.
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