Maruja announce debut album & tour, share 10-minute punk-jazz protest song

The undefinable UK band Maruja recently wrapped up a string of great EPs with this year’s spiritual jazz-leaing Tir na nÓg, and now they’ve announced their debut album, Pain to Power. It arrives September 12 via Music For Nations (pre-order) and was produced by Samuel W Jones, who also worked on all of their EPs.

The first single is “Look Down On Us,” a 10-minute song that touches on almost everything Maruja have proven to be capable of: punk, jazz, prog, spoken word, hip hop, experimental art rock, and more. Its musical variety is matched by an uncompromising message informed by late-stage capitalism, greed, oppression, and the billionaire ruling class. Vocalist Harry Wilkinson calls the song “a reflection of the times we live in” and adds:

The first half of the song paints a grotesque and vivid picture of the super wealthy, and the impact they have on our culture. The second half is about the need to come together in solidarity and embrace love as a wider community, especially in times of oppression. The song ends full circle, arching back to where it began as a reminder to the listener of the struggle from which it came, and the struggle that still remains.

Speaking to NME about the album overall, bassist Matt Buonaccorsi added:

A lot of themes on this album – and I mean stuff that the four of us, our generation and people across the world are experiencing right now – are about seeing so much turmoil, war, corruption, greed, horror through the screens of our phones. It’s easy to feel powerless when looking at all of this happening. Decades ago, you would have just heard about stuff like Palestine through the newspaper, but now the world is an open stage. We’re getting angles about all kinds of incredible suffering from different countries, different peoples.

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. ‘Pain To Power’ means to transform something that is making our lives so difficult and trying to change the world with that. The whole album is a study on that phrase.

As for “Look Down On Us,” I don’t think it’d be possible to hear this song and feel nothing. Check it out and watch the video (directed and produced by Light in the Tower) below. The album also includes Maruja’s 2024 single “Break the Tension,” and the video for that can be found below too.

Maruja also have a ton of tour dates coming up, including a newly-announced North American run that hits Brooklyn’s Elsewhere Hall on September 25. All dates are listed below.

Maruja — 2025 Tour Dates
May 16th – The Great Escape, BRIGHTON
May 23rd – Conpass, OSAKA
May 24th – Club Que, TOKYO
May 27th – YUE Space, BEIJING
May 28th – VAS Livehouse, SHANGHAI
May 29th – 9 Club, HANGZHOU
May 31st – VOX Livehouse, WUHAN
June 1st – B10 Live, GUANGZHAN
June 2nd – OMNI Space, BEIJING
June 8th – Lycabettus Hill Theatre, ATHENS (supporting TV on the Radio)
June 11th – Rock For People Festival, CZECH REPUBLIC
June 12th – Ecosystemic Festival, LATVIA
June 14th – Outbreak Festival, MANCHESTER
July 11th – Pohoda Festival, SLOVAKIA
July 20th – TvSpenta festival, ITALY
July 26th – Deer Shed Festival, YORKSHIRE
August 7th – Ypsigrock Festival, ITALY
August 8th – Haldern Pop Festival, GERMANY
August 9th – Winterthurer Musikfestwochen, SWITZERLAND
August 14th – Paredes de Coura festival, PORTUGAL
August 16th – Lowlands Festival, NETHERLANDS
August 17th – Pukkelpop Festival, BELGIUM
August 21st – Canela Party, SPAIN
August 23rd – Shambala Festival, UK
September 22nd – The Foundry, PHILADELPHIA, PA
September 23rd – The Sinclair, BOSTON, MA
September 25th – Elsewhere, BROOKLYN, NY
September 27th – Concert Hall, TORONTO, ON
September 28th – Thalia Hall, CHICAGO, IL
October 1st – El Rey Theatre, LOS ANGELES, CA
October 2nd – Constellation Room, SANTA ANA, CA
October 3rd – The Independent, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
October 4th – Harlows Starlet Room, SACRAMENTO, CA
October 25th – Electric Bristol, BRISTOL
October 29th – The Garage, GLASGOW
October 31st – Whelan’s, DUBLIN
November 1st – The Limelight 2, BELFAST
November 5th – The Castle & Falcon, BIRMINGHAM
November 7th – The Wardrobe, LEEDS
November 8th – Rescue Rooms, NOTTINGHAM
November 12th – CHALK, BRIGHTON
November 13th – Electric Ballroom, LONDON
November 14th – O2 Ritz, MANCHESTER
November 19th – Botanique Orangerie, BRUSSELS
November 20th – LUXOR, COLOGNE
November 21st – Paradiso Tolhuistuin, AMSTERDAM
November 22nd – Bahnhof Pauli, HAMBURG
November 26th – Hole44, BERLIN
November 28th – Bogen F, ZURICH
November 29th – Santeria Toscana 31, MILAN
December 3rd – M.OU.CO., Porto
December 4th – LAV, Lisbon
December 5th – Copernico, MADRID
December 6th – Sala Apolo, BARCELONA
December 10th – Pannonica, NANTES
December 11th – Le Tetris, LE HAVRE
December 12th – Trabendo, PARIS