Maruja - Tír na nÓg EP

Maruja are well on their way to establishing a reputation as the UK’s most charismatic, promising new act. 

Maruja formed ten years ago in Manchester, no strangers to the struggles of being a jobbing band in a music scene where the fee for a support slot hasn't been raised in 30 years. Looking ahead to a blistering 2025, the first cornerstone comes as the band complete a foundational triptych of EPs by delivering their most experimental offering to date.

‘Tir na nÓg’ is an entirely improvised continuous suite of music, broken down into four movements. Saxophonist Joe Carroll expands “When we improvise together, we often enter a flow state where the concept of time is warped, an hour may feel like 10 minutes for example. There is a certain thoughtlessness which becomes hypnotic, it’s in these states of mind where the majority of our music is spawned from, we take these improvisations and turn them into songs. It is important for us to show where our music stems from and this piece ‘Tír na nÓg’ is a perfect example of where we go when improvising together.”

The title ‘Tir na nÓg’ comes from Irish mythology, meaning “the land of no age” and is the name of “The Celtic Otherworld”: an enchanted place from which all mysticism arises.  In the middle of that mythical place, in Irish lore, is a well that artists would drink from to give them inspiration.