The Murder Capital: 'We had a joke that the evolution will not be compromised’

Rather than rush into writing sessions for a follow-up record, the Irish post-punk quintet were unexpectedly afforded time by lockdown to re-evaluate what they really wanted it to say second time around.

The end product, Gigi’s Recovery, out tomorrow, is a different beast to its predecessor – more measured, with a varied sonic palette, but no less intense.

Speaking from a rehearsal room in Dublin, where the band are preparing for a forthcoming UK tour, drummer Diarmuid Brennan recalls how “everything ended pretty fast for us in terms of touring” in March 2020 and that he and his bandmates “kind of had no choice but to reflect”. While the world paused, they “had time to explore and consider what we were making”.

“The first album was written so fast we weren’t really thinking too much about it,” he says, “but in June 2020 we met up in Dublin and started writing again. We were really just exploring different sonics at first and getting to grips with that, new sounds and new gear and exploring how far we could take it with that, and try to make something that wasn’t When I Had Fears.”

The lyrical tone of Gigi’s Recovery is noticably more optimistic than its predecessor. “This time the subject matter wasn’t about grief,” Brennan says. “We were in lockdown and I guess we were trying to look for a future. Also we were left resolving a lot of our past as well individually and as a collective.

“The lyrical content has definitely moved forward in a way, and musically too. We had a joke that ‘the evolution will not be compromised’ which is a play on the Gil Scott Heron line ‘the revolution will not be televised’. We were humorous about moving forward and not making the same songs as the first album because otherwise it would’ve just been a carbon copy. It’s a hyper-real version of it now.”

Brennan admits there were quite a few arguments early on in the creative process. “There was a lot of frustration, but I think it was to do with outside factors more so than within the band,” he says. “Gigs weren’t happening which is how we learn a lot about songs, putting them in front of a crowd and knowing how we feel about them.

“We were essentially living together for nine months. Throughout that there were very heated debates. I think most of the work done was by us talking things out but also playing together and establishing the trust to go places that we hadn’t gone in the first record.”

Allowing each other space and building trust was “a big thing”, he says. “When you’re creating with five people that all have a say and each of us wants to make the music as compelling as we feel it can, there’s always going to be those creative discussions that can get heated.

“Also being forced to live together, we were seeing each other on our really dark days. Between the five of us there was a lot of introspection going on within oursleves, the struggles that we were all having personally, and moving together as a unit as best we can was the work we were concentrating on. We often say the work is us, the music that’s the fun part, the creative part where you can forget about the inner workings of the band or within oursleves. Music is the relief for that.

“If we weren’t locked down I don’t think we would have come out with the same album. It gave us time and space to get to really know each other,” he adds, explaining that the band only fully formed in 2018 and we were “straight on the touring schedule” very early on. “I think we came out a stronger band because of this (experience), we’re very in tune with each other now. When it comes to the music it’s a lot easier to write when you have that trust.”

The band starts promotional activities for the new album with a series on in-store events, including at Crash Records in Leeds on January 24, followed by European and UK dates in February. Brennan says he’s looking forward to meeting fans. “To finally put a face to who’s out there, that’s a privilege, really,” he says, remembering that the last time they were in Manchester a couple had brought their nine-week-old baby to a show. “He had his headphones on and slept through the whole thing, but it was a sweet moment. You never know who you’re going to meet, but it’s nice to put a face to the people listening.”

Gigi’s Recovery is out on Friday January 20. The Murder Capital play at Leeds University Stylus on February 20.