Manchester Punk Festival Releases 38th Compilation
Manchester Punk Festival have released the 38th volume of their compilation series ahead of this year’s festival. Manchester Punk Festival Vol. 38 is…
Healthy Junkies are set to release their brand new album, Listen To The Mad, on Friday 22nd November via Banana Castle Records, the band will also be releasing their new single and video, Lion In A Circus, on Friday 15th November. Healthy Junkies will be launching the album in the UK on the 17th November at The Prince Albert in Brighton and on the 20th November at The Dublin Castle in London. The Punk Site have checked in with the band and they have given us an exclusive track by track breakdown of their upcoming album.
Favourite Place
“The thing about Healthy Junkies’ lyrics is that Nina and Phil mostly write them together at a fixed time when the moment finally presents itself. All the songs on this album originate from jams in the studio. Nina will find a vocal melody to match the music and often come up with a line or 2 on the spot. We then listen back on the initial recording and make it into something lyrically complete together. This song is no exception. It’s a bit like going on a lyrical journey together. The words just pour out in a stream of consciousness kind of way. Along the way we throw in social commentary, personal deviations and the odd line designed to throw anyone bothering to listen in a different direction. Your favourite place is likely to be somewhere you go physically and/or mentally to hide from the traumas of reality (‘The city of clowns’ ref Boris Johnson). That said the lyric also says ‘What you see is what you face ‘. So, we hide and yet we confront at the same time.”
Self-Conscious
“A song about never being able to meet up to societies or other people’s expectations. Particularly for women. Too thin, too fat, too tall, too short, too dark, too light etc. Women and girls looking at influencers online who present a wonderfully exciting life can often make them feel inadequate and lead them to self-consciousness.”
Desire
“The desire to be free, the desire to be better, the desire to be successful. At the same time being driven half-crazy by the world at large and all the madness it contains. This is a song of cathartic abandonment.”
Julie’s Got A Job
“Julie, the central character in the story, is a dreamer. She works in the city in an office job but dreams of being rich and famous. She firmly believes this to be the answer to all of her problems. She is in the gutter looking up at the stars.”
Dead Souls
“Taken from the title of a book by Russian author Nikolay Gogel. But not meant in any way to reference the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It really is a song about feeling lost. Drowning in the mires of expectations and feeling like you are giving everything away while receiving little or nothing in return.”
Son And A Daughter
“A story about a young kid who is having an identity crisis. Bullied at school by other kinds, bullied at home by their dad. Where do they fit in? Who are they? They do not wish to conform to norms. Gender identity has been a massive topic, especially over the last few years. Society is going through huge changes at an alarming rate and many people are having trouble keeping up.”
World On Fire
“Inspired by literally the media information we are exposed to. Climate change, war, corruption, inequality, abuse of power. ‘Expose them from the roof tops’, shout about it. The MeToo movement was in full swing when we wrote this song. I believe that the perpetrators of abuse rarely understand the long-term consequences of their actions.”
Solitaire
“The title says it all. This is a song about one hand seeking to be on your own and on the other hand feeling lonely. The need to do something for yourself. We live in London, a huge city. The fact is you can feel lonelier in a crowded city than anywhere else at times.”
Take Me To The Moon
“Fantasising about a future of hope and happiness. Living in the moment and making the most of it with the knowledge of an eventual demise. Grabbing a moment of ecstasy no matter what the consequences. Live in the moment because that is all we have.”
Now Or Never
“Throw everything into what you do. Uncompromising, determined, single-minded. Do not think you will get another shot at another time. Do not be naïve. Find your way and do it now!”
Baroness
“Inspired by the recent corruption exposed by the press of Baroness Mone. This has been an all-too-common story during lockdown. Some say it was the biggest transference of wealth in history. The rich and the poor. Inequality, The same old story.”
Tinnitus
“Tinnitus is a common problem, especially for musicians playing the style of music we play. I.E. loud. It never goes away. It torments you, the best you can hope for is to forget about it from time to time or mask it with another noise. Torments of the mind and soul are like this. They needle you, constantly remind you of their presence. There is no escape.”
Media Whore
“Social media, all types of media are being used and abused and have completely changed society in more negative ways than positive. Fake news coming at us from every which way, no one knows what is true and what is not. That said, we like to think we are more informed than ever about many things. This is a 2-part song. Then second part is a guttural cry for the safety of children from the predators of this world. Child abuse is a subject we know something about through personal experience.”
Lion In A Circus
“Written in lockdown about feeling like a caged animal. This unnatural phenomenon that was forced upon is now seeing consequences of a devastating kind. Kids, teenagers and young adults especially were the most affected in the long term. Watch this space for more chaos.”