Melbourne-based blackened rock’n’roll band PAGAN are thrilled to announce their debut album Black Wash will be out on July 6 in Australia via EVP Recordings, and in Europe and the UK via freshly inked label Hassle Records. Featuring the new single ‘Death Before Disco’ – the video for which has been released today – and 2017’s belter ‘Imitate Me’ amongst the album’s 11 tracks, Black Wash is available to pre-order now from here.
Pagan – Nikki Brumen (vocals), Xavier Santilli (guitar), Dan Bonnici (bass), Matt Marasco (drums) – released their huge new single ‘Death Before Disco’ last month to what can only be described as an incredible reception. Telling the story of being gaslighted in a relationship against a huge wall of riffs, the track had spins on BBC’s Radio 1, triple j Home & Hosed, Short.Fast.Loud and The Racket and love on community radio stations right across the country.
Pagan celebrated its release of with a jam-packed Holy Communion party in their hometown of Northcote last month, evidence of which can be seen in the new ‘Death Before Disco’ video released today.
Pagan’s forthcoming debut album Black Wash is a collection of 11 songs (‘spells’, in Pagan speak) by four people who have each experienced their own individual Hells but walked through the flames together, hand in hand, brought to life by producer Mike Deslandes, in part at Abbotsford’s The Aviary and South Melbourne’s Holes and Corners studios. Together, they pay homage to their punk rock and heavy music ethics (‘Blood Moon’), draw inspiration from the dancefloors of neon-soaked discotheques (‘Year of the Dog’) and back-alley rock and roll clubs of old (‘Silver’), rebelling against the rules and nostalgic romanticism that seem to plague underground music to this day.
From the album curtain raiser ‘Il Malocchio Si Apre’ (‘The Evil Eye Opens’) Nikki bares her soul, her ferocious and haunting howls navigating swiftly between the theological world the band have created through striking imagery and lyrical symbolism, and the real world in which she has lived and survived. Her emotional landscape is addressed by references to the earth and the moon, light and dark (‘Death Before Disco’), two forces which seem to play the role of the chorus in this story – the ever-important voice of reason in all great tragedies. The drama of Black Wash plays out over the backdrop of a very organic, dynamic and fluent rock and roll soundtrack that bravely walks a tightrope between pretty and delicate restraint, catchy-as-hell dance rhythms and monolithically heavy walls of sound and fury, all meticulously crafted and agonizingly arranged by Daniel, Matthew and Xavier, culminating in Pagan’s deathblow, ‘Il Malocchio Si Chiude’ (‘The Evil Eye Closes’).
Black Wash track listing:
1. Il Malocchio Si Apre
2. Death Before Disco
3. Silver
4. Imitate Me
5. Holy Water
6. Blood Moon
7. Year of the Dog
8. The Greatest Love Songs
9. Wine and Lace
10. Fluorescent Snakes
11. Il Malocchio Si Chiude