Maven Grace - No Music

‘No Music’ is the new single and video from UK dreampop duo Maven Grace; the third single lifted from their forthcoming second album, Surface with a Smile (Helium Records). Darker in tone than the album’s previous singles, with ‘No Music’, Maven Grace (Henry Jack and Mary Home) shed light and pay tribute to the courage and tenacity of musicians driven underground by oppressive regimes. Henry Jack observes:

“There are places in the world where music is forbidden. That is a terrifying thought, and this song is dedicated to all the brave musicians who risk their lives to keep playing under impossible conditions.”

If you’re interested to find out more, this is a good place to start: https://www.anim-music.org/about-us.

The deliberate mash-up of Eastern scales, European strings, and Latin American horns underlines the universal nature of music; while the pastoral eeriness of Syd Barrett-era Floyd rubs up against the energy and desperation of Rachid Taha’s Algerian rai and chaabi traditions. Perhaps on the surface, a dark and exotic psychedelia emerges from this pairing of eclectic musical traditions with themes of a perilous, clandestine existence. But this reading would belie the song’s true underlying message, of endurance and hope, as Henry continues:

“The song asks ‘Where do you think this will end?’ but the question is rhetorical. The forces of hate and oppression are always defeated in the end. As David Crosby once said, music is love.

“The question is not only rhetorical. It also hints at a deeper truth, because music is constantly evolving and, in fact, endless.”

Premiering the new video with Post-punk.com on Monday (9 September), Alice Teeple wrote:  

“…Henry Jack and Mary Home cast shadows over their dream pop repertoire … The lyrics unearth a dystopian hell where norms are nothing but dust. They sketch a frightening scene of suppression and control, where personal possessions are pulverized, public spaces are perilous, and a façade of normalcy is a must for survival. Amidst the madness, an ominous question echoes about the endgame… The video unfolds in stark black and white, a chilling chase through the night. A lone man, gripping a gun and a flashlight, trudges through the murky gloom, his every step echoing with menace. We, the unseen, slink in his wake, shadows lurking and hearts racing. His eerie expedition, fraught with fear and foreboding, feels like a sinister game where we’re the hunted, trailing his trail through the relentless, ruthless night...”

Meanwhile, Rowan Blair Colver at Sound Read Six writes:

“…Eerie folk music glistens and pours from the tipped jug of play. A sequence of strangeness curls over and reveals angelic vocals that shine with their own inner radiance. Elements of mystery join hands with strangely familiar scales from other times. The words hypnotically fuse with the melody in shimmering resonances and drifting motivations. A beautiful backdrop of femininity drapes the framework with morish colour and sensation. No Music from Maven Grace contains everything good and peaceful about the gift of music, aptly portrayed in a dramatisation of dream and purpose...”

Watch the video for ‘No Music’ by Maven Grace:

For their upcoming second album, Surface with a Smile, Maven Grace collaborators reprising roles from the debut outing, Sleep Standing Up, include co-producer Chris ‘Merrick’ Hughes (Adam & The Ants, Tears for Fears); multi-instrumentalist Tom White (Electric Soft Parade, Brakes, The Waeve); violinist Diana Galvydyte (the Lithuanian Philharmonic); and bassist Charlie Jones (Goldfrapp, The Cult, Vamberator, Siouxsie Sioux, Shelleyan Orphan, Robert Plant). New to the fold are drummers Clive Deamer (Portishead, Radiohead) and Marcus Efstratiou (Hook & The Twin, Psychid); Craig Chapman on French horn; and mixing engineers Sam Petts-Davies (Radiohead, The Smile, Michael Kiwanuka, Frank Ocean) and Simon Willey (who also plays Omnichord, Witchshifter and Bizzy Fizzy).

Surface with a Smile is scheduled for October 2024 release, on UK indie label, Helium Records.