Every rehearsal room they’ve ever loved has left them and, from the wreckage of the latest to be demolished emerges the latest single from Manchester’s (inter)nationally-revered, socially-literate post-punks, Martial Arts. Causing no little attention from noise abatement officers on the outskirts of the city centre, Triumph’s unquestionable sonic ambition comes cut with incisive commentary on the stifling, closeting effects of questionable conformity.
Relentless touring through winter and spring, predominantly in support of previous, critically and fan-acclaimed, emergent era singles, Warsaw and Defector, concluded with the band’s first overseas jaunt before a swelled audience at Paris’ Supersonic. Purposefully pausing to take breath, take stock and press ‘record’, Martial Arts restarted their gig schedule last month with their latest headline London show at Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes. News of new music comes alongside a run of festival and indoor live shows, including a notable headline at Manchester’s YES Pink Room on Sat 16 November.
Working at new scale, Triumph’s fabrication in the now lost factory kitchen in South Manchester’s disappearing former-industrial heartland determined new recording processes in the company of trusted producer, Seadna McPhail. Heading to a disused church on the coast, Martial Arts sought cavernous space in which to capture the single’s charged instrumental mass and meticulously spun lyrics. Singer and lyricist, Jim Marson says: “’Triumph’ is a rallying cry for anyone who feels stifled by societal pressures. It’s an exploration of the tension between personal desires and the pressures of society. Societal norms can suffocate the younger generation, many of whom can feel out of place in a world that demands conformity. It questions the true cost of such conformity to our own potential and values.”
Raised within the damp, brick-lined alleyways of their neighbourhoods, yet keen to test new horizons hundreds of miles from their heartland, Martial Arts add a date in Portugal to their imminent touring plans. Fully expecting further dates to be added, all currently confirmed Martial Arts live appearances are as follows:
- Fri 11 Oct – Manchester, Beyond The Music
- Fri 18 Oct – Edinburgh, Mash House
- Fri 8 Nov – Clitheroe, Old School Rooms
- Sat 9 Nov – Barrow, Underground Music Society
- Sat 16 Nov – Manchester, Yes Pink Room
- Fri 13 Dec - Porto, Portugal, Post Punk Strikes Back Festival
- Sat 14 Dec – Nottingham, Bodega