Luna Rosa - Brutal by Name, Brutal by Nature
Whilst lockdown proved to be a bleak departure from the world of gigging, touring and general human interaction, there's no denying that the desolate nature of the last two years provided musicians with a vast array of introspectively dark subject matter.
The isolated nature of life during this given period undoubtedly shattered the concept of live music, which could have proved fatal for the likes of Luna Rosa. With well over three-hundred UK shows and extensive tours and festival appearances under their belt, the Corby four-piece rely heavily on the ability to perform live in order to connect with an audience and allow for their songs to be received the way they ultimately should be. 'Society's so diluted now in the way that people process and consume with streaming' tells front-man and songwriter Rory Mcdade on the matter, 'When we write new music we want to be able to go out and gig it because we feel our music translates better when played live.'
Luna Rosa have always been the band to explore the darker recesses of their song-writing abilities. Though often steeped in unavoidably macabre political undertones, Mcdade's poetic lyricism frequently ventures into the primal, desperate, angst-ridden emotions of man from a first-person perspective. 'Seventeen with a smoke screen, in a house that wasn't a home' hits like a freight train of adolescent doom, while the line 'my paranoia's paranoid about my paranoia' requires no further explanation. The point being, whether political, self-analytical, or simply documenting the antics of a street junkie or doomsday preacher via song, Luna Rosa's lyrical content does not shy away from the weightier themes of our existence.
Latest single 'Brutal Nature' perfectly encapsulates these themes in question. Written prior to lockdown and recorded merely a day before coming into place, the song as a whole, both musically as well as lyrically, conveys a heavy sense of depravity and mental claustrophobia, albeit toying with the sensation of hope. The song's looming bass line is quickly adjoined by Aiden Furey's atmospheric guitar harmonics, formulating a rhythmic terrain for McDade's vox to lie atop of. The track's climactic introduction takes us to a dark void of hostile vocal delivery and Bauhaus-esque drums, accompanied by a captivating synthesizer-emulating guitar hook.
Luna Rosa's stylistic versatility has been proven on their last run of singles, but nothing demonstrates their sonic dexterity like 'Brutal Nature' as of yet. The song is enshrouded in weight and noise from the first note, slipping into punk and post-hardcore territory if not for a constant undercurrent of contemporary funk and eighties new-wave influence. Choppy Talking Heads and Johnny Marr derived guitar playing breaks up the cacophony of red-hot, anarchic pandemonium provided by the rhythm section. Ever growing are Luna Rosa's musical capabilities and creative flexibility, and above all, this comes across in the their recent work as organic and non-conforming to any current trend or style. It's the sound of a band composing music for music's sake, bleeding their rich plethora of influence into their art subconsciously, and jumping head-first into a bottomless pit of emotion and expression through poetry and instrumental telepathy.
I spoke with vocalist Rory McDade on Brutal Nature's rise from the ashes of lockdown, their work and eventual signing to label Vandalism Begins at Home, and the recording of The Brutal Nature EP, which is available to stream June 17th.
(RM)- 'It just feels great to be able to get back in a room together, fuck about and make noise. It was a bit of a shock to the system like it was for everyone, to have everything you love doing stripped from you. We live for this you know, for me there's not much purpose to life unless I've got this, which sounds extreme but it's true. So it feels brilliant to be able to release music and then go play it for people, we appreciate it more and are working harder because of it. Also in those few years we've changed as people and wrote so much new music so we're dying to get it out there! Life is good.'
Long awaited single 'Brutal Nature' is set to be released May 13th- why was the decision made to hold off from releasing new music prior to now?
- 'There were just so many albums and EPs released that got lost in the abyss because everyone's focus was diverted elsewhere and rightly so. And when we write new music we want to be able to go out and gig it because we feel our music translates better when played live. Also, society's so diluted now in the way that people process and consume with streaming and all that shit, people are just force-fed and blindly accept that an algorithm knows what's best for them. With everyone staying in their houses we couldn't compete with the big companies putting money into entertainment and flooding the market. So, we held off so we had more of a chance to be heard and so people could experience the song live.'
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| Photography by Dane Turner |
When was 'Brutal Nature' written and what was the writing process behind the track?
- 'It was written at the start of 2020. Aidan (lead guitar) had the intro, I was doing night-shifts in this big industrial plant and was writing a lot of dark poems every shift, lack of sleep, isolation, no sunlight all had an effect I believe. I just kept going through the intro to see what would fit, I wanted it to start in the middle of a story with characters putting you in the centre of the action if that makes sense. I came up with the chorus and then when we had that we wrote the music for the verses, but it wasn't until the day of recording that I wrote the lyrics for those. I had all the ideas and themes in my head but just finished them before going into the booth to do vocals. It was strange because it was the day before lockdown loomed and we went for lunch during recording and there was this strangling feeling like a smog over the town, we walked round and a lot of things popped up that influenced the verses' lyrics like newspaper headlines and this mental preacher guy outside a church, it all just fell into place just in time. It was like assembling the song throughout the process bit by bit instead of sitting down to write a whole track, we wanted to create an anti-pop song that perfectly fitted the pop format.'
Where was the track recorded?
- 'It was recorded with Gavin Monaghan at Magic Garden Studios, which is where we did the whole EP. Every time we go into the studio there seems to be something world changing just about to happen! Probably just 'cause the world's fucked I suppose. Like I said we recorded this the night before the first ever lockdown, we recorded another political track the night before Boris Johnson got put in power. Maybe we're a bad omen and should quit now.'
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| Photography by Dane Turner |
'Brutal Nature' perfectly displays the dark and weighty- albeit experimental- recesses of your songwriting abilities as a band, which have previously been unexplored to such an extent. Was it a conscious decision to release such a heavy track as your next effort?
- 'I think we've always had that in the locker, we weren't consciously trying to make a heavy track, we were just working through and writing music. I suppose our situation and the way we were feeling affected the track and that's why it is the way it is. I actually think the next song we wrote was a soppy love ballad. We try not to put up borders and create so consciously because it strips the soul out of anything, if it feels right then it probably is and at the time Brutal Nature felt spot on.'
Are there any records or bands that you remember listening to during the writing and recording of 'Brutal Nature' that may have influenced the overall sound or production of the track?
- 'U2- Exit, The Murder Capital- For Everything, The Altered Hours- Dig Early, Talking Heads- The Great Curve. Also, a lot of movies were influencing my personally at the time like 'La Haine', 'Buffalo 66', 'Cape Fear', 'There Will Be Blood' and everything Bruce Lee as always. I also read two books that I think made a mark- 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy and 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey.'
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| Photography by Dane Turner |
In the time that you've taken out since releasing 'MK Ultra' and 'Corrugated Steel', there's been a flurry of quality new musical releases by both UK and international bands alike. Any new records or acts that have caught the attention of yourself or the band in general?
- 'At the minute really loving Opus Kink, Katie J Pearson, Fontaines D.C, Little Simz's last record, Do nothing are great, I can't get enough of this guy called Tre Burt. Can't remember if his record came out in lockdown or not it's all a bloody blur! From our way, Kinship and Phantom Isle released cool EPs. Bloody/Bath, Tragic and Eddz are all doing bits as well!'
You've just signed to independent record label 'Vandalism Begins at Home'. How did this signing come to happen and what does it mean for the future of Luna Rosa?
- 'We were playing Bedford Esquires a few years back and I picked up the VBAH zine the guys make. Got to know them, played a few gigs for them, went on tour with them and then eventually got on their label. It just means bigger better releases, they're in it for the music and the music only. Lots of shady creeps in the business that want to intervene on what you're creating, concerned more on how you look and if you've done the latest Tiktok trend or not. That genuine belief and support they give us just allows us to go and create better music because they know, like us, it's the music that matters.'
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| Photography by Dane Turner |
Following the release of the single, what new music can we expect to see from yourselves further down the line?
- 'Other than the upcoming EP in June, we have a whole remix version of the EP coming out later this year. Each song has been remixed by someone different and it's really cool to hear people's perspectives on the songs. You listen to some of them and your'e like 'Why the fuck didn't we do it that way!'. They've completely made them their own and it's ace! We'll be going back in the studio this year at some point to record for sure.
Catch Luna Rosa live:
-17/06 Music Barn Festival- Kettering
-18/06 The Clubhouse- Corby
-30/06 Moto GP- Silverstone
-09/07 Right To Roam Festival- Bolton
-15/07 The Castle- Newport Pagnell
-22/07 The Castle- Manchester
-30/07 Fiddlers Elbow- Camden Rocks- London
-31/07 Twinfest- Northampton
Listen to Brutal Nature here:
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