Детали релиза : Maruja - Pain to Power (2025) [FLAC (tracks)]

Album review

Ten years is a long time to be called a “new punk sensation”, but Maruja have certainly been busy. After three tentative rock EPs and a few lineup changes, the quartet formed in 2014 in Manchester by schoolmates Harry Wilkinson (vocals, guitar) and Matt Buonaccorsi (bass) found their signature sound five years later when they were joined by drummer Jacob Haynes and saxophonist Joe Carroll. Without any formal training, being entirely self-taught and self-produced, the combo spent hours improvising and fell in love with the new British jazz scene led by Shabaka Hutchings and Nubya Garcia. It was their EP Knocknarea (2023), which mixes soaring jazz improvisations and post-punk sound with electronic influences, that first caught the attention of the British press. Following a string of visceral performances, the Mancunians were invited to perform on the highly prized “BBC Introducing” stage at Glastonbury in 2024. They played two even bigger gigs the following year before signing with the respected Music For Nations - an independent British label - adding to the label’s eclectic rock/metal roster (Porcupine Tree, Spiritual Beggars, Opeth, Bury Tomorrow).

Maruja have amped things up with their first full-length release. More punk than ever, the Mancunians amplify Wilkinson’s unmistakable non-conformist prose in eight balanced pieces which dive into the most elegant fringes of rock - from garage to grunge, via heavy metal, and even verging on noise rock, while breaking into more ethereal jazz improvisations. The tone is set right from the start of the album with the soaring "Bloodsport" and its bulldozer-like motorik rhythm. As the album progresses, the tension gradually unravels between long experimental jams ("Look Down on Us" and its strained sax), bursts of punk chaos ("Break the Tension", "Trenches") and celestial jazz ("Zaytoun"). Wilkinson chants and raps his disgust for the establishment but sings for communion - as on the mournful and poetic "Saoirse" (meaning “freedom” in Gaelic), where the strings ease the tension, or the radiant "Reconcile", which brings the album to a roaring close. A promising album which opens new paths between rock and jazz. Qobuzissime!

© Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz