We have a great premiere today from Liverpool based Mariachi outfit Roja. This is a brand new version of their stand out track The End which features on their new EP The Promises I Should Have Kept which is released on 1st December 2014 via Probe Plus Records.
Following support from Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe and Radio 3’s Late Junction, this new E.P. is being released in December 2014 through legendary indie label Probe Plus – longtime favourite of John Peel as well as the home of longstanding luminaries Half Man Half Biscuit who Roja have been gigging with throughout 2014.
Formed from the members of long-lost alt-rockers Marlowe (a total of eight musicians, with five of them core members and the others guesting on the album) the distinctive vocal and dry lyricism of frontman Simon Bradshaw is set against an altogether more grandiose backdrop.
Departing from the very British post-grunge sound of their previous group, Roja venture far across the Atlantic Ocean to the endless horizons and desert landscapes of Ennio Morricone and Mariachi El Bronx. Soaked in the spirit of Spaghetti Western soundtracks and the more recent homages of one Quentin Tarantino, triumphant brass, sweeping strings and flamenco acoustic guitars form the richly evocative tapestry of their magnum opus, Promises I Should Have Kept.
There is still a shadow of their early career in the serrated distortion and, most importantly, their classic songwriting nous that calls to mind the likes of Calexico, Scott Walker, Beirut and Spiritualized. With deliciously dark narratives of narrow escapes and turbulent romance, it’s the most thrillingly inventive work from a group of musicians who have played together for nigh on two decades, burning with a creative fire rapturously renewed.