Brighton-via-Malta quartet ĠENN announce debut album unum for October 6th through Liminal Collective (pre-order link here) New single ‘Days And Nights’ carries the announcement today
The quartet launch an interactive online visual space unum 3d
“Versatile and multi-faceted” DIY | “Vastly creative” CLASH
“stridently political and powerfully personal genre-blending” Under The Radar
Anglo-Maltese quartet ĠENN announce their debut album unum - set for release on October 6th through Liminal Collective. The latest single from it - ‘Days And Nights’ - came out on June 13th.
It follows April post-punk stomp ‘A Reprise (That Girl)’ and the eerie sing-song of 2022’s ‘Rohmeresse’ in setting out their thoughtful, provocative intent.
Built around a swampy groove, ‘Days And Nights’ rolls heavily forwards in its assuredness. Vocalist Leona Farrugia’s vocals oscillate between semi-spoken commands in the verses, never breaking eye-contact - and untethered, vibrato howls during the choruses.
‘Days and Nights’ offers a sense of the inherent juxtaposition that life offers, the lightness of experience often leading us in deeper rumination about our position in the world. It’s an ongoing process, a floored quest for completion as the sun continues to rise and fall.
Vocalist Farrugia adds:
‘This rumination is close to heart, almost comic at times. The parachute of experiences can leave you numb and unsettled, I often feel that one can never be fully equipped to what life has in store’ It comes with a visually arresting music video directed by Charles Gall who worked with Sports Team and English Teacher, amongst others.
Along with the album announcement comes the launch of an interactive online visual space unum 3D which the band describe as: “a spatial concept designed to present some of the facets of the mundane. This representation on a computer screen slowly presents us with unexpected turns and surprising tricks that makes some of it not so mundane. As a companion to the album, the house exists to engage with the lyrical themes in a dimension outside of, but in tandem to, what the music offers.”
The quartet has a resolutely independent streak - as evidenced by the visual world entirely created by lead-vocalist Leona, as well as the establishment of the Liminal Collective through which they’ll be releasing their music (more on this below). They have an untrammelled attitude towards fusing the personal with the political via their amorphous sound, which touches on post-punk, art-pop, psych-rock, noise-rock and more.
Majority queer, the first iteration of the band started 10 years ago in Malta, before moving to Brighton. Over this time they have built determined bonds as a self-described sisterhood, founded on instinctive trust and affection. They are a group with multinational backgrounds, covering Maltese, British, Jamaican and Portuguese roots across the four members. Their position as immigrants (or coming from immigrant backgrounds) has shaped their experience operating within the UK music industry. An intersectional gaze revealing the need for more minorities within music.
Key shows have come in support of Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Do Nothing, Cleopatrick, Pussy Riot, JOHN, BC Camplight, Girli, TV Priest, Bull and more, as well as performances at The Great Escape, and ESNS representing Malta.
The band have found radio champions in Steve Lamacq, Amy Lamé, Tom Robinson and Don Letts at BBC 6Music
as well as John Kennedy at Radio X (including a live session) and KEXP.
And press acclaim has come from Loud & Quiet, Rough Trade, Clash, Under The Radar, DIY, Line Of Best Fit and more. These nods of approval across the landscape set the foundations for an imperious and exciting push towards their formidable debut. ĠENN are made up of Janelle Borg - guitars (she/her), Sofia Rosa Cooper - drums (she/they), Leona Farrugia - Vocals (she/they), and Leanne Zammit - bass (she/her).
unum was co-produced by ĠENN, Gilla Band’s Dan Fox and Tom Hill. Mixed by Tom Hill at The Bookhouse. Mastered by Katie Tavini @ Weird Jungle.
Live Dates 14th June - Huddersfield - The Parish 15th June - Glasgow - The Hug & Pint 17th June - Newcastle - Zerox 18th June - Milton Keynes - The Craufurd Arms In-Store Shows 6th Oct - Rough Trade East, London
7th Oct - Jumbo, Leeds
8th Oct - Phase One, Liverpool
9th Oct - Vinilo, Bournemouth
10th Oct - Vinilo, Southampton
11th Oct - Pie & Vinyl, Southsea
12th Oct - Banquet, Kingston Album Launch Headline Show 13 th Oct - Komedia, Brighton
Note: The album will be released via Liminal Collective - a new multi-disciplinary collective that also serves as a space for other creatives to develop and release their art, and collaborate with like-minded individuals. More info regarding the album is found on the latest news post (to be issued 21/06/2023).
ĠENN are supported by Arts Council Malta
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