‘Life’s too short for being boring. Would you wanna know the day you die? Save the date for Death’s big party. Choose your future. Choose life.’
Fresh back, from performances at Glastonbury, the Secret Garden Party and supporting Paolo Nutini on a recent tour, London-based singer/songwriter, Gemma Rogers, continues her productive, creative flow in 2024 with the release of a new single on the AP Childs label, named ‘DKU’, or ‘Death Knocked Up’, for those who appreciate the delights of a longer song title in their lives.
The new single, from a forthcoming EP called ‘No Future‘, has been inspired by the 2021 novel ‘Mrs Death Misses Death’, written by Gemma’s friend, the poet and performer Salena Godden. In Gemma’s own words, ‘I thought it was interesting to get under the skin of death as a being with a conscience, but who had to get on with the job like so many of us. We wanted to explore the idea that people are more than their jobs and that we need to consider there’s more to people than meets the eye. . We liked the idea of death giving birth as well, so Death became a woman and why not?’ This deep, philosophical perspective is mirrored in the single’s video; a highly-professional and hard-hitting piece of visual work from director/co-producer, Louis Norton Selzer and a very talented creative team.
‘DKU’ begins with a high musical energy that maintains throughout the entire song, aside from a quieter, pondering middle eight. As always, Gemma’s lyrics are both intelligent and creatively delivered to her audience. It always feels as Gemma is living every word as she expresses it and her passion for what she believes in never falters for a single moment. The chorus really stands out for me, possessing a very memorable, catchy groove and (from personal experience) the whole song is a definite hummer/earworm that enjoys bouncing around the brain at random times of the day/night.
For the forthcoming No Future EP, Gemma has teamed up with Ode to Records, a new sister label of punk stable Holy Dotage Records, responsible for recent vinyl releases by punk legends SPIZZENERGI and fast rising duo Voodoo Radio. Gemma is certainly rising up through the ranks, as more people take note of her phenomenal musicality and this new single certainly does everything to encourage that. Gemma’s engaging in a national tour later in the year and Joyzine will be there to cover one of the gigs. More please!
You can pre-order the No Future EP from Ode to Records including a limited 12″ vinyl.
Gemma Rogers socials: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube
Article by Kevin J Milsom
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