Manchester’s cacophonous craftsmen Chew Magna are back with a feedback drenched ode to compulsive lying, bull shitting and hyperbole. “Secrets originally started life as an acoustic song I wrote for my folk group” reveals singer Laurie “but we jammed it a few times, channelling bands like Sebadoh and Superchunk and it transformed pretty quickly”. Clocking in at just over two minutes, what Secrets lacks in duration it makes up for in volume. “We wanted it to be noisy to juxtapose the poppy melodies” explains guitarist Simon “Laurie and I don’t play a single note in the verse, we just leave the guitars to start squealing”.
The end result is a concise pop tune buried under unyielding guitar squall. When the choruses hit, we get thundering chords and Hulme’s soaring vocal, reminiscent of the finest Lou Barlow earworm. When asked about the lyrical content Laurie says “I wrote the song partly about my tendency to exaggerate details when I tell my dull anecdotes…but it also taps into bigger themes of bullshitting and gross exaggeration I see every day on social media or in advertising etc”.
Recorded at Salford’s The White Hotel with SWAYS producer Martin Hurley, it is a follow up to the band’s previous singles ‘Listless’, ‘4232’ and ‘Spat Out’ is the fourth track to be unleashed from the four-piece’s upcoming debut album arriving in Summer 2023 – a record they say, sees them “emerging from Covid’s sleep.” An onslaught of decibel-destroying fuzz and rising tension, Chew Magna explores the angst felt of wasting one’s potential, freedom’s plight, apocalyptic cautionary tales, inverse worlds, the passing of youth, conspiracy theories and life’s countless frustrations.
Forming from the foundations of some of their home city’s various musical outfits, Chew Magna is guitarist and vocalist, Laurie Hulme (Songs For Walter), guitarist, Simon Walker (Young British Artists), drummer, Ben Philips (Young British Artists) and bassist, Joel Nicholson (Jane Weaver, Francis Lung). As their music resonates in the ears of all from Record of The Day to Louder Than War Chew Magna continue to absorb influences from the world around them and spit out their own alt-rock antidote to lifelessness in the modern age. Navigating new sonic terrains in the former furniture warehouse where they rehearse, their songs emerge from spontaneous instrumentals and are powered by boundless imagination to capture the raw emotion of live performance.
Having previously played alongside acts such as Cloud Nothings, Empath and Mothers, Chew Magna are currently booking a UK tour to coincide with the release of their debut record. Stay Tuned for more Magna news.
