Belfast occult grunge group New Pagans have returned with their latest single, ‘It’s Darker’.
Despite the title, ‘It’s Darker’ is an upbeat and punchy tune. Resonant post-punk guitar riffs evoke early Interpol and drive the song forward, while a tight (and addictive) fuzzed out bass groove plays with the drums to lock everything together. Above all, vocalist Lyndsey McDougal’s impassioned shouts heighten the impact of the simplistic, but meaningful lyrics – “It’s going to get you / It’s going to push you / If this is true, then we’ll go into hiding”.
The band dropped a music video to accompany the single, shot on 8mm film by bassist Claire Miskimmin and Lyndsey McDougal. The video, which feels like a homage to cult 80’s horror films, features images of blood dripping down a marble-white statue at an altar interspersed with lonely forests and runes drawn in the sands of isolated beaches, cementing New Pagans’ name and aesthetic with their place of origin – think Dario Argento directing a remake of Twin Peaks in Northern Ireland.
With a short, but sweet, catalogue of releases that is slowly and surely growing, New Pagans’ charms have bewitched the likes of Daniel Carter from BBC Radio 1, which is no easy feat – the band are beginning to assert their musical power.
Continuing a run of recent dates New Pagans play The 343, Belfast on 12th April.
