Saint Agnes, the wide screen spaghetti western style psych outfit from London, have just unleashed their latest single. ‘A Beautiful Day For Murder’ is a an exquisite serenade to death that singer Kitty Austen describes as ‘the soundtrack to a dark and beautiful Western where Lana Del Ray stares down Nick Cave in a saloon bar stand-off’. A fine follow on from previous single. ‘Old Bone Rattle’, and a clear indicator that despite been prominent figures in their other bands, Kitty (Lola Colt) and Jon Tufnell (Lost Souls Club), -along with the impeccably dressed, Matt Devine and Ben Chernett, – are a force to be reckoned with.
According to official sources the band met whilst playing with their respective bands, and bonded over similar musical influences. We weren’t 100% convinced by this at Backseat Mafia, so we backed them into a dark alley and made them spill the beans on the real story behind Saint Agnes…
BM: So where did you really meet?
SA: It was a dark, winter eve in Bow Cemetery. Lightning streaked across the sky as we four found ourselves drawn to the same tombstone: a great, marble stallion with a mane of white fire that some say was inspired by the Devil’s own steed… That fated night we made a pact in blood between ourselves. And here we are now.
BM: Was it just music that you bonded over?
SA: We bonded over a mutual respect for Clint Eastwood, Satan, riffs and the finest ale available to humanity.
BM: How did you go about creating the bands sound?
SA: We had our first rehearsal under a full moon, in an abandoned asylum. This lead us to create music that sounds like what would happen if Jim Morrison took Black Rebel Motorcycle Club into the desert… Or if Ennio Morricone wrote the score for a remake of Easy Rider… We’re Quentin Tarantino’s wet dream.
BM: The new single certainly reflects this. What’s the story behind the song?
SA: ‘A Beautiful Day for Murder’ is a twisted ballad: a love song to death itself. It’s the soundtrack to a dark and beautiful Western where Lana Del Ray stares down Nick Cave in a saloon bar stand-off… ‘Where the Lightning Strikes’, the second A side, is blues stomping, dirty rock n roll with psychedelic organs, screaming guitars and haunting harmonica.
We tried to make it sound like music to die to. Dramatic. Cinematic. Bold. More than anything it’s the space around the parts that make them potent. Like a classic spaghetti western stand off. It is just a couple of guys standing on an expansive desert looking at each other but you could cut the atmosphere with a hatchet.
BM: The singles been put out by ‘Energy Snake Records’, what are they like to work with?
SA: They’re a bunch of crazy cats, who seem to share the same cowboy gothic vision of the future as we do. They also throw rad parties. At our last single launch they hooked us up with Bolt motorcycles and we had two superbikes at the front of the stage as well as a bull skull suspended from the ceiling and a carpet of dying roses…
BM: How would you describe your live show?
SA: Our live show is usually pretty sweaty for everyone involved. It’s probably all the leather. The leather and the tension
BM: Anyone else out there that shares your vision?
SA: Look out for Desert Mountain Tribe, a psychedelic rock band who are ace live and really great guys, we’re playing with them again soon. We’ve done two single launch shows and been lucky enough to have The Franklys, The Witch Hunt, Black Mekon and Adam J Harmer (Fat White Family) join the line ups. Pretty special nights.
‘A Beautiful Day For Murder’ is out now on Energy Snake Records.
You can catch Saint Agnes live – and sweaty – at the following…
5th Oct – Queens Head Social w/ Tess Parks
15th Oct – Borderline w/ Messenger
12th Nov – The Garage w/ Desert Mountain Tribe
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