King Nun: Musical Catharsis

Almost four years after their debut album, and some big changes in their trajectory, London-based indie punk band KING NUN were well due to release some new music. While there were some obvious obstacles in the last few years, the band were desperate to document their most recent life experiences through their music, something that they’d found to be extremely healing and therapeutic.

Speaking with guitarist James Upton, he explains exactly how this second album, LAMB, came to be. “There was a moment I remember really specifically. At the time we were all feeling a bit lost, because there was a lot of stuff going on in our personal lives, and we were writing. We had the riff for Golden Age, and then Theo sung. It was the first time I thought okay yeah, there is a really clear path ahead of us. We can do something really great here. It was the first moment I believed we had a second album in us, really properly and really deeply.”

KING NUN are no strangers to albums with heavy religious connotations and with their debut named Mass, it seemed like LAMB was the natural progression. While the band are typically drawn to these religious themes, James explains that none of the members are necessarily religious themselves, and that this kind of spirituality serves more as symbolism to their outlook on life and making music. He says, “the idea is that you have a sacrificial lamb, and that idea of sacrifice was important for us, because we’ve been doing this for a long time, and it takes a lot.” 

From this, the album’s title acts as a celebration for the music that they make, and represents how the sacrifices that the band have to make are worth it for the outcome. Ultimately, there wasn’t any other choice that they could have made. James goes on to say, “I think a lot of the music that we make has a certain innocence to it. LAMB really captures that duality of it, it’s something innocent but also sacrificial and violent and dominating. There’s a weird juxtaposition, but it’s also very beautiful.” As a concept, the band feel as though music and religion are extremely intertwined, and that the connection between the two makes sense, based on the shared themes of community and belief, and how people congregate for a common purpose. 

While much of the driving force of the writing of LAMB came from feelings of frustration and isolation, and the need to write to express these emotions, that isn’t to say the outcome wasn’t overwhelmingly positive, and from the beginning, the band knew they were always going to write an optimistic album. “It’s more the lens we view everything through, which is very optimistic,” James says. “One of the driving things behind all of the music we make is the question of how can we reach higher up? None of us really have time for music that’s very dreary, and kind of depressing.” 

Much of this optimism comes from the rewarding side of writing music to vent their frustrations, and James explains the catharsis that he feels when he is able to play a song that helped him through certain problems in his life. While some things may be difficult to write about and face, they know that there will be a weight lifted when they do, so they are always able to approach their writing with a positive spin. Something else that is vital when understanding the bands dynamic, is understanding their connection with each other. “We’ve all been best friends forever. We rely on each other, and live each other’s lives, so if any of us are ever vulnerable around people, it’s around each other. So naturally it comes out in the song writing, and makes you feel less alone, in that issue, whatever that is. That’s a really important part of who we are.”

Because connecting as a band is vital in their process of making music, there were some factors that made recording this album the easiest recording process they’d ever had. Firstly, drummer Caius Stockley-Young produced LAMB, which meant there wasn’t really any outside influence impacting the way that anything was done. “We just spent two weeks making it together, and honestly it was one of the best times of my life. It was all things that we wanted to do, and we could do them exactly how we wanted. We still had internal disagreements, but they weren’t about the very fabric of the songs, which we’ve had in the past.”

During the process, the band also welcomed a new member, Ethan Stockley-Young on bass and percussion. By doing this, everything was a little bit shaken up, and James explains, “he was just adding parts that we thought were so cool. A lot of this album was spontaneous, and a lot of the really positive changes happened while we were recording.” While these changes might not seem to have made a huge difference in terms of sound, it is clear that this version of the band is the most realised, smooth-sailing version so far, and that they are now in the position to really make the kind of music that they all love.

For KING NUN, it is obvious that the most important component of their music is enjoying every bit of the process, and that light-hearted but passionate feeling really comes through in their sound. James explains, “we’ve always loved writing songs together. That’s kind of the first and last thing to know about the band, that’s why we do it.”

LAMB is out now via Marshall Records.

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