Maruja – Trenches
Maruja don’t mess around with “Trenches,” and they shouldn’t. The Manchester jazz-punk outfit’s latest single hits like a manifesto set to Joseph Carroll’s skronking saxophone lines, with vocalist Harry Wilkinson delivering combative verses that quote revolutionary activist Fred Hampton: “There will be no revolution ’til the people believe that they are revolutionary.”
Produced by Samuel W. Jones for their debut album “Pain to Power,” “Trenches” captures what the band calls “the anger of a generation unheard and their desire for change.” They’re drawing from Griselda, Mobb Deep, and Rage Against the Machine, which makes sense when you hear Wilkinson’s urgent delivery over Carroll’s aggressive sax work.
The track serves as a political statement and a musical declaration. Maruja describe it as “a relentless, high octane banger” designed to remind listeners “they are not what this culture teaches, they are in fact powerful beyond measure.” It’s heavy-handed messaging, but the music backs up the rhetoric with genuine intensity.
This follows previous singles “Saoirse,” “Look Down On Us,” and “Break the Tension,” all of which landed on BBC Radio 6Music playlists. The band’s approach to jazz-punk feels urgent rather than academic, using Hampton’s words as a rallying cry for their generation’s frustrations.
Wilkinson has mentioned his longtime interest in spiritual teachers like Wayne Dyer and Alan Watts, which explains the philosophical weight behind their political fury. “Trenches” channels that energy into something immediate and confrontational.
Tracklist:
- Bloodsport
- Look Down On Us
- Saoirse
- Born To Die
- Break The Tension
- Trenches
- Zaytoun
- Reconcile
Tour Dates:
Europe
- September 12 – Signature Brew Blackhorse Road with Rough Trade, London, UK
- September 14 – Key Club with Crash Records, Leeds, UK
- September 15 – Academy 3 with Crash Records, Manchester, UK
- September 17 – Rough Trade, Nottingham, UK
- October 25 – Electric Bristol, Bristol, UK
- October 29 – The Garage, Glasgow, UK
- October 31 – Whelan’s, Dublin, Ireland
- November 1 – The Limelight 2, Belfast, UK
- November 5 – The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham, UK
- November 7 – The Wardrobe, Leeds, UK
- November 8 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
- November 12 – CHALK, Brighton, UK
- November 13 – Electric Ballroom, London, UK
- November 14 – O2 Ritz, Manchester, UK
- November 19 – Botanique Orangerie, Brussels, Belgium
- November 20 – LUXOR, Cologne, Germany
- November 21 – Paradiso Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- November 22 – Bahnhof Pauli, Hamburg, Germany
- November 26 – Hole44, Berlin, Germany
- November 28 – Bogen F, Zurich, Switzerland
- November 29 – Santeria Toscana 31, Milan, Italy
- December 3 – M.OU.CO., Porto, Portugal
- December 4 – LAV, Lisbon, Portugal
- December 5 – Copernico, Madrid, Spain
- December 6 – Sala Apolo, Barcelona, Spain
- December 10 – Pannonica, Nantes, France
- December 11 – Le Tetris, Le Havre, France
- December 12 – Trabendo, Paris, France
North America
- September 22 – The Sinclair, Boston, MA
- September 23 – Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA
- September 25 – Elsewhere, Brooklyn, NY
- September 27 – The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON
- September 28 – El Club, Detroit, MI
- September 30 – Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL
- October 2 – El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
- October 4 – Constellation Room, Santa Ana, CA
- October 5 – The New Parish, Oakland, CA
