Melbourne band Reetoxa — led by former Royal Australian Navy sailor and songwriter Jason McKee — announce the release of their new single, “War Killer,” out May 15, 2026. Raw, unapologetic, and channelling the spirit of Sham 69’s “If the Kids Are United,” it is Jason’s first ever foray into political songwriting — and a track that, by all rights, almost never existed at all.
The story behind “War Killer“ begins in the world’s most locked-down city, during the most surreal stretch of the most surreal years any of us have lived through.
Jason was deep in the creative marathon that would eventually produce the epic double album Soliloquy — six months of near-continuous writing fuelled by coffee, cigarettes, and a ham and cheese croissant each morning, which only ended when he was hospitalised for six weeks. During a rare break, he turned the television on to check for updates on Melbourne’s seemingly endless lockdown.
What he saw stopped him cold.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un — walking together. In peace. In solidarity.
For most people, it was a strange news item. For Jason, a man who had spent ten years serving aboard Royal Australian Navy vessels, it was something else entirely. Throughout his service, the captain’s voice had rung out over the ship’s speaker with a clear and consistent message: North Korea was an unstoppable force. Prepare accordingly. The idea that a phone call could resolve what had been framed as one of the world’s most intractable threats hit him like a physical force.
He sat down and started writing.
“War Killer“ is not a political endorsement. Jason is the first to admit he knows very little about politics and understands it even less. What he believes in is peace — and the bewildering, beautiful, almost naive hope that a moment of unity might be worth celebrating, regardless of which side of any line you stand on. He tried to reach a mate — a passionate political supporter on the opposite end of the spectrum — to share the moment, only to find him locked in heated online battles with strangers across the world. Jason’s question was simple: can’t we just celebrate this?
The song that came from that question nearly didn’t make the album. With 1800 songs to choose from for Soliloquy, the odds were against it. But after a beer and tequila break at The Avenue Studio in Cheltenham, the band laid down their first take — and something happened. Producer Simon Moro and Jason looked at each other when the vocals finished. They both knew.
“We have a hit here,” they said. “And we’re both going to get cancelled.”
Without a single moment of promotion, “War Killer“ has already become a fan favourite.
Heavily influenced by punk and recorded with the raw, first-take energy that defines the genre at its best, “War Killer“ channels the communal spirit of Sham 69 into a song about the absurdity and exhaustion of political division. It is Jason’s first heavy track as a lead vocalist — a deliberate step outside his comfort zone as an artist known for emotional, softer performances — and a statement that the world needs to hear right now, even if it takes a lot of convincing to believe it.
“A punk rock take on the current political climate,” Jason says, “may be just the thing to get us all holding hands again.”
Jason is in early discussions regarding a UK and European tour in Autumn 2026. Nothing is confirmed yet, but the momentum behind Reetoxa — from the extraordinary Soliloquy double album to the growing fanbase that found “War Killer“ without any help from the promotional machine — suggests the world stage is the logical next step.
