‘Saoirse’ is the new single from Maruja, the third to be revealed from their debut album Pain to Power, set for release on 12 September by Music For Nations. It arrives as the band returns from their first tour of Asia and is the follow up to the BBC 6Music A-Listed ‘Look Down On Us’. Where that single was a furious cry against the impact of late-stage capitalism, ‘Saoirse’ is a profound plea for understanding and unity in the divisive and frightening times we live in. The poignant video for the single was directed by Jake Thompson and Alex Orosa from Light In The Tower.
“’Saoirse’ means freedom, something we are witnessing being violently denied to the people of Palestine.
This is a song for peace, an outpouring of grief and a refusal to be numb to what we are seeing. Genocide. Man-made famine. An attempted erasure of a people. Like the olive tree, the Palestinian people have deep, resilient roots. They’ve resisted decades of forced displacement, military occupation, illegal settlements, and now enforced starvation. Since the 1948 Nakba, where over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes, the violence has not stopped. We must look to their strength and stand with them and demand more from the governments who make us complicit by spending our taxes in facilitating war crimes.
Saoirse is about resistance, and about the roots that tie us all together. We don’t choose where we are born, but we can choose to act. It’s our decisions that define us. At our gigs, through listening to our music, you lift us up, our bodies physically moving through the crowds, our messages amplified. Through Saoirse we ask you to hold up more than us. Hold space in your mind for Palestine. Hold up your fists. Do not look away.
Saoirse don Phalaistín.” Maruja.
Inspired by a decades-old comic strip found among saxophonist Joe Carroll’s Irish grandfather’s possessions depicting a member of the Black and Tans boarding a boat from Dublin to Palestine, the song speaks to the power of unity to combat division with frontman Harry Wilkinson’s potent mantra: “It’s our differences that make us beautiful”. Maruja is fundamentally motivated by solidarity, compassion and the power of knowledge and community as a force for vital societal change. ‘Saoirse’, with its transcendent sax, strings and Harry’s plaintive vocal, serves as the group’s thesis to this idealogy.
Both the single artwork for ‘Saoirse’ and the album artwork for Pain to Power were created by Manchester-UK-based artist Mikey Thomas. In support of the record, Maruja will embark on the Pain to Power tour which kicks off in North America this September after a string of festival appearances in the summer.
Maruja ask that if possible, fans make a donation to Medical Aid For Palestinians, in support of their ongoing work in Gaza. A fundraiser is available on the band’s instagram page here.
MARUJA Live Dates
July
20 – TvSpenta festival, ITALY
26 – Deer Shed Festival, YORKSHIRE
August
7 – Ypsigrock Festival, ITALY
8 – Haldern Pop Festival, GERMANY
9 – Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, SWITZERLAND
14 – Paredes de Coura festival, PORTUGAL
16 – Lowlands Festival, NETHERLANDS
17 – Pukkelpop Festival, BELGIUM
21 – Canela Party, SPAIN
23 – Shambala Festival, UK
September
22 – The Sinclair, BOSTON, MA
23 – Underground Arts, PHILADELPHIA, PA
25 – Elsewhere, BROOKLYN, NY
27 – The Phoenix Concert Theatre, TORONTO, ON
28 – El Club, DETROIT, MI
30 – Thalia Hall, CHICAGO, IL
October
2 – El Rey Theatre, LOS ANGELES, CA
4 – Constellation Room, SANTA ANA, CA
5 – The New Parish, OAKLAND, CA
25 – Electric Bristol, BRISTOL
29 – The Garage, GLASGOW
31 – Whelan’s, DUBLIN
November
1 – The Limelight 2, BELFAST
5 – The Castle & Falcon, BIRMINGHAM
7 – The Wardrobe, LEEDS
8 – Rescue Rooms, NOTTINGHAM
12 – CHALK, BRIGHTON
13 – Electric Ballroom, LONDON
14 – O2 Ritz, MANCHESTER
19 – Botanique Orangerie, BRUSSELS
20 – LUXOR, COLOGNE
21 – Paradiso Tolhuistuin, AMSTERDAM
22 – Bahnhof Pauli, HAMBURG
26 – Hole44, BERLIN
28 – Bogen F, ZURICH
29 – Santeria Toscana 31, MILAN
December
3 – M.OU.CO., Porto
4 – LAV, Lisbon
5 – Copernico, MADRID
6 – Sala Apolo, BARCELONA
10 – Pannonica, NANTES
11 – Le Tetris, LE HAVRE
12 – Trabendo, PARIS
For more information on Maruja please check their facebook and instagram.
