NME’s latest stars of The Cover Maruja have created an exclusive playlist to accompany the story’s launch – check it out below.
The Manchester band are on this week’s (August 4) edition of The Cover, a manifestation of NME’s commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover – you can read Maruja’s profile here, written by Rhys Buchanan and featuring photography by Tom Oxley.
Maruja have curated an exclusive playlist to mark their appearance on The Cover, collating a selection of ‘Ruthless Rave Bangers’. The 16-track collection includes songs by the likes of Slang Dogs, Sammy Virji, Zha, Joy Orbison and more. Listen to the full playlist on Spotify below and on Apple Music.
The Manchester jazz-punk band are set to release their debut album, ‘Pain To Power’, in September – a record that captures the looming dread and anxiety that was already bubbling violently within their first two EPs, ‘Knocknarea’ and ‘Connla’s Well’. Those releases took aim at everything from unfit leadership (‘Kakistocracy’) to the mental health epidemic (‘The Invisible Man’).
Speaking to NME for The Cover, singer Harry Wilkinson explained that such issues have always weighed on him. “It stems from that philosophy in all of us,” he explains. “I never used to be able to sleep at night, so for many years growing up, I’d put on these spiritual teachers like Wayne Dyer, Alan Watts and Terence McKenna. I’ve always based my words on social topics, philosophy or things that I define as being important cultural pillars. It’s often with the intent of us trying to reach for the betterment of culture, and that’s often through concepts and beliefs of love and solidarity.”
Elsewhere in The Cover, Maruja discussed the creative process behind the album, their unifying live show, and their aim to spread hope and self-empowerment through what they do. “Self-empowerment is vitally important in an age where people are disconnected from one another,” Wilkinson said. “The only way that we can really provide sustenance to combat that is to realise our self-worth. We have to spread that through our message, through our live show, through our music, because that is what is fundamentally important to us as human beings. Maruja is a movement.”
Read Maruja’s full Cover story here and find out who else has been on The Cover here.