Maruja – Look Down On Us
Manchester’s jazz-punk outfit Maruja has unleashed “Look Down On Us,” the first single from their highly anticipated debut album, Pain to Power, which will be released September 12th via Music For Nations. The track serves as a blistering manifesto against late-stage capitalism and the stranglehold of the 1% on global society.
Produced by longtime collaborator Samuel W Jones, who helmed the band’s previous three EPs, “Look Down On Us” exemplifies Maruja’s potent approach to protest music—thought-provoking, unifying, and cathartic. The song’s structure mirrors its thematic journey, dividing neatly into two distinct movements. As frontman Harry Wilkinson explains, “The first half paints a grotesque and vivid picture of the super wealthy, and the impact they have on our culture,” targeting figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, who wield outsized influence over public discourse.
Bassist Matt Buonaccorsi elaborates on this initial section’s fury: “The lyrics refer to multibillionaires and oligarchical figures… All these people have so much power and can control what we see in our lives.” He notes the song’s scope extends beyond individual billionaires to address systemic issues, including war profiteering—”America is profiting from selling weapons to Israel who are butchering Palestine.”
After establishing this foundation of righteous anger, the composition shifts dramatically. The latter half pivots toward hope and solidarity, exploring, as Buonaccorsi puts it, “how can we be hopeful in a time like this?” The song’s arrangement mirrors this transition, moving from aggressive punk energy into a calmer, transcendent jazz passage that emphasizes collective action and community building.
“As much as we need to be angry and frustrated,” Buonaccorsi explains, “we need to utilise that for collective action, for looking after one another, for understanding how trauma affects all of us both on a societal and personal level.” This duality forms the philosophical backbone of “Look Down On Us” and the upcoming album.
‘Pain to Power’ promises to be an extraordinary eight-track collection that positions Maruja as a creative force deeply concerned with the power of community, both as a tight-knit creative unit and as a wider catalyst for social and political change. The album title itself encapsulates their ethos: transforming collective suffering into action. Buonaccorsi notes, “It’s so horrifying to try and take in all of this collective pain. The fact that we can try and turn this pain into power, into action, to come together to protest and form communities and celebrate solidarity and love over division—that’s quite powerful.”
The release announcement coincides with news of an extensive world tour. Following their recent successful North American tour, the band is set to perform across the UK, Europe, China, Japan, and the US. They’ll also play a hometown headline show at Manchester’s O2 Ritz. Artist pre-sale for new headline shows begins May 14th, and general on-sale begins May 16th.
