Which Side Are You On? by Portland songwriter Mitch Whitaker arrives like a lit match dropped into dry grass. Sparse, stripped-back, and emotionally unflinching, the EP revives the folk protest tradition of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen in the light of recent traumatizing events like ICE seizing people from their homes, tearing them from families, and killing people even. So, most of these songs are built from little more than acoustic guitar, voice, and moral urgency — and frankly, that directness makes them hit even harder.
The title track, “Which Side Are You On?”, opens the EP with a haunt. Soft, glimmering acoustic guitars drift beneath Whitaker’s high vocals as he recounts the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good with chilling plainspoken detail. Referring to these two civilians’ deaths, he repeats, “Which side are you on?” —not the left or the right, but the people’s or the government’s. There’s no chance for neutrality.
Then “We the People” widens the lens into something communal and defiant. The song carries the energy of a rallying cry without losing its tenderness, turning collective resistance into something spiritual. Whitaker sings about marching toward a promised land together. This is an anthem that makes you want to embody the ethics, the defiance, the morals, and the humanity to be one of his “we.”
“A Better Tune to Sing” shifts inward, trading political confrontation for philosophical reflection. Warmly strummed guitars and Whitaker’s soft, exhilarating vocal delivery guide the song through themes inspired by Buddhist thought, suffering, and release. The imagery of mud, rivers, shadows, and clearing paths gives the song an earthy intimacy, while the refrain about finding “a better tune to sing” lands like hard-earned peace after emotional exhaustion.
Finally, “Jesse Welles” closes things on a deeply human note. Opening with the striking line, “I will be the Leonard Cohen to your Bob Dylan,” the track becomes a late-night meditation on artistic responsibility during social collapse. Whitaker sounds weary but determined, wrestling with whether songs matter while simultaneously proving that they still do.
Across Which Side Are You On?, Mitch Whitaker reminds listeners that protest music is meant to confront it.
STAY IN TOUCH:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | BANDCAMP | TIKTOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
Review by: Naomi Joan