Today, Manchester’s Maruja announce their debut album Pain to Power set for release via Music For Nations on 12 September. It was recorded at Low Four Studio and produced by Samuel W Jones, who the band worked with on their three EPs to date. The debut album finds a deeply emotional and empathetic band concerned primarily with the power of community, both in the nuclear sense, as a tight knit creative unit, but also as a wider force for social and political change in the age of the individual.
The first taste of the album is new single ‘Look Down On Us’’ furious cry against the impact of late-stage capitalism and the wealth of the one percent on global society. This is protest music at its most potent. Thought-provoking, unifying and intensely cathartic, it places the band in the great canon of artists using their art to propel change. Speaking about the single, frontman Harry Wilkinson shares:
“’Look Down On Us’ is a reflection of the times we live in. The first half of the song paints a grotesque and vivid picture of the super wealthy, and the impact they have on our culture. The second half is about the need to come together in solidarity and embrace love as a wider community, especially in times of oppression. The song ends full circle, arching back to where it began as a reminder to the listener of the struggle from which it came, and the struggle that still remains.”
The single arrives with a te minute video which starts with the band performing against a backdrop of vivid, expressive brushstrokes, taken from Pain to Power’s artwork by Mikey Thomas before segueing into a section of contemporary dance as the single reaches its midsection of calmer, transcendent jazz.
In support of the album, they take their unmissable live show on the road across the UK, Europe, China, Japan and the US later this year.
Artist presale begins at 9am local time on Wednesday 14th May and ends on the same day at 11:59pm.
General on-sale is Friday 16 May at 9am local time. All tickets will be available HERE.
Maruja Live Dates
May
16 The Great Escape, BRIGHTON
23 Conpass, OSAKA
24 Club Que, TOKYO
27 YUE Space, BEIJING
28 VAS Livehouse, SHANGHAI
29 9 Club, HANGZHOU
31 VOX Livehouse, WUHAN
June
1 B10 Live, GUANGZHAN
2 OMNI Space, BEIJING
8 Lycabettus Hill Theatre, ATHENS (supporting TV on the Radio)
11 Rock For People Festival, CZECH REPUBLIC
12 Ecosystemic Festival, LATVIA
14 Outbreak Festival, MANCHESTER
July
11 Pohoda Festival, SLOVAKIA
20 TvSpenta festival, ITALY
26 Deer Shed Festival, YORKSHIRE
August
7 Ypsigrock Festival, ITALY
8 Haldern Pop Festival, GERMANY
9 Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, SWITZERLAND
14 Paredes de Coura festival, PORTUGAL
16 Lowlands Festival, NETHERLANDS
17th Pukkelpop Festival, BELGIUM
21st Canela Party, SPAIN
23rd Shambala Festival, UK
September
22 Foundry, PHILADELPHIA
23 Sinclair, BOSTON
25 Elsewhere, BROOKLYN
27 Concert Hall, TORONTO
28 Thalia Hall, CHICAGO
October
1 El Rey, LOS ANGELES
2 Constellation Room, SANTA ANA
3 Independent, SAN FRANCISCO
4 Harlows Startlet Room, SACRAMENTO
25 Electric Bristol, BRISTOL
29 The Garage, GLASGOW
31 Whelan’s, DUBLIN
November
1 The Limelight 2, BELFAST
5 The Castle & Falcon, BIRMINGHAM
7 The Wardrobe, LEEDS
8 Rescue Rooms, NOTTINGHAM
12 CHALK, BRIGHTON
13 Electric Ballroom, LONDON
14 O2 Ritz, MANCHESTER
19 Botanique Orangerie, BRUSSELS
20 LUXOR, COLOGNE
21 Paradiso Tolhuistuin, AMSTERDAM
22 Bahnhof Pauli, HAMBURG
26 Hole44, BERLIN
28 Bogen F, ZURICH
29 Santeria Toscana 31, MILAN
December
3 M.OU.CO., Porto
4 LAV, Lisbon
5 Copernico, MADRID
6 Sala Apolo, BARCELONA
10 Pannonica, NANTES
11 Le Tetris, LE HAVRE
12 Trabendo, PARIS
For more information on Maruja please see their website facebook and instagram
