New Pagans – “There We Are John”
In November, Irish group New Pagans announced a new album, Making Circles Of Our Own, the follow-up to 2021’s debut The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots And All. This past September, they released “Better People,” and their album announcement came with two tracks: “Karin Was Not A Rebel” and “Fresh Young Overlook.” Today, New Pagans are back with “There We Are John.”
Inspired by artist/filmmaker/activist Derek Jarman, “There We Are John” is “about growing things out of desolate situations and spaces.” Bassist Claire Miskimmin adds: “Derek Jarman was a visionary avant-garde artist & filmmaker, with a career spanning four decades and multiple genres. An important figure in the history of gay culture, he’s been described as the Queer Pagan Punk.”
Vocalist Lyndsey McDougall continues: “I first encountered the work of Derek Jarman through his coastal garden, Prospect Cottage in Dungeness. When we wrote this song, we had just lost our home and had moved in with my parents (as a result of restrictions around the creative industry during Covid) and my dream of owning a garden seemed further away than ever. Somehow, studying Jarman’s Prospect Cottage garden brought me great serenity and hope. In a place considered so desolate, Jarman created a beautiful, fruitful landscape. This song is about hope.”
Listen below:
Making Circles Of Our Own is out 2/17 via Big Scary Monsters.