Mo’Ju has announced details of their fourth studio album, ‘Oro, Plata, Mata’, due out early this year.
The Filipino/Wiradjuri artist’s new album will arrive on March 24 via Virgin. The album is a direct homage to Mo’Ju’s late Tito (uncle) Peque Gallaga, with its title lifted from a historical war drama he directed in 1982.
Mo’Ju has given fans another taste of the forthcoming LP to mark the announcement, releasing the single ‘Money’. It follows on from the album’s first cut ‘Change Has To Come’ which was released last November. Check out ‘Money’ below:
‘Money’ is an examination of capitalism and the role we all play – subconsciously or not – in perpetuating consumerist culture. Speaking about the track in a press statement, Mo’Ju said: “I’ve been reflecting on capitalism and the way at times I’ve felt like a captive of it, but simultaneously, I’ve been totally complicit in it. It’s about the constant hustle and the way it undermines the things in life that are actually important.”
Ahead of ‘Oro, Plata, Mata”s release, Mo’Ju will be performing it in full at two special concerts. The first will take place at Sydney Opera House on February 21 as part of Sydney WorldPride, with accompaniment from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
The second will follow on March 17, and will see Moju unite with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a performance at Hamer Hall. Find tickets for that here and the Sydney show here.
“I will be playing this entire album, start to finish with both the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras,” Mo’Ju said in a press statement. “There will be a bit of a retrospective of my work over the last 10 years as well – I will be touching on something from every record I’ve made.”
“But the thing I am excited about most of all, is having the opportunity to present this whole album to an audience with both orchestras… This the very first time anyone will hear this album, not just live, but before the record even drops. I’m so excited that people will hear it like this and hopefully have the memory forever. That doesn’t happen every day.”
Mo’Ju’s last album was 2018’s ‘Native Tongue’. Following that, they released two EPs in 2019 and 2021, titled ‘Ghost Town’ and ‘O.K.’ respectively.
Speaking about the latter in a four-star review, NME‘s Doug Wallen wrote: “The gradual revival of hope across these seven songs is both encouraging and resonant. Whatever Mo’Ju does next, you can be sure [they] won’t be hiding behind anything – and [they] won’t be alone in how [they’re] feeling.”