Chosen by Monk
My latest choice sees these magnetic, megalithic South African fuzz rockers – whom we’ve been championing since the release of their third album back in 2020 – teaming up with Greenleaf’s Arvid Hällagård to invite us to stare into their #CultEyes:
The band contacted the Club management to tell us a bit more about the song:
The lyrics for Cult Eyes came about when we became aware of the fact that we had inadvertently started an actual cult based around our music (Yes, the cult is VERY real. No, we won’t tell you where it is or how it started).
It’s mostly about nonchalantly accepting the role as a cult figure, and then realizing the weight and impact your actions have on your followers, and specifically having to be accountable for those actions. Of course the protagonist in the song doesn’t want to accept any of his own mistakes or take control of anything, just like cult leaders usually don’t, and this selfishness results in death and ruin. It can also be interpreted as an allegory for the modern state of politics and social media influence, where cult leaders spew out nonsense with no accountability.
Arvid Hällagård of Greenleaf tracked vocal harmonies for the song back in 2021, but due to an unfortunate sabotage, the original track was lost to the ether. When Greenleaf and Ruff Majik played together in 2023, the bands got to talking, and Tommi Holappa brought up the fact that Greenleaf listens to a lot of Ruff Majik in the tour van. Arvid and Johni spoke about the sadly lost song, and the decision was made to redo it. It’s a bit of a “what the fuck?” moment for us, since we’ve idolized Greenleaf for years – and Johni even tried to hoodwink them into touring with us before anyone ever heard about us. So, a full circle moment indeed.
Ruff Majik’s fourth album. ‘Moth Eater’ will be released via SOL Records on 27 September.