It looks like 2024 is set to be a defining year for barn-storming, genre-straddling Mancunian quartet Porij.
Catching up with Stephen "Steps" Lowe on The Lunchbox on Today Radio, the band, currently in serious rehearsal mode, is gearing up for their upcoming Stateside tour.
In Part One of their two part interview, we discover that patience has been a virtue in waiting for the right time to become now… how the record explores pain, hurt, love, growth and how those emotions transfer to the live stage.
2024 will mark a series of firsts as lead singer Egg reveals that the US tour, kicking off in April, will be the first time the group perform there. It's also set to mark Egg’s maiden voyage across the pond.
"We don't really know what to expect but we are pretty excited," she tells Steps. "We love to play live, that is obviously really important to our DNA as a band."
From being on the fringe to bursting on to the scene, 2024 may just prove to be the breakthrough year for Porij, if there's any justice in the world. Having to pause, reboot, recalibrate and restart more than they were expecting over the past few years, the Manchester quartet are set to reveal ‘a collection of tracks’ as their full-length debut LP.
With the imminent release of their debut album, does this represent a new dawn musically for Porij?
"I think for us we are going to keep on making the music that we do. Obviously, it is quite out there musically and I think we love to jump around genre-wise and make the music that really speaks to us, whatever that is in that moment."
Amidst the chaos of creativity and the different genres coming together, Egg describes the new album as a melange of "lush melodic" guitar and some chaotic, Noughties-inspired Basement Jaxx, rave-y energy that fans will recognise from their track "You Should Know Me".
"It's about growth and it's about how painful that growth can be"
The eleven-track album entitled "Teething", the majority of which was written prior to the end of 2022, is really a collection of snapshots and vignettes of moments of the band's lives at that time, Egg explains.
"It's about growth and it's about how painful that growth can be — but also how important it is. It has been a whole growing-up process and that's what the name really reflects. It's positive to acknowledge growth and hurt and because this album was written at such a pivotal time in all of our lives, I think it really captures that in a really vulnerable and honest way."
The delightful aspect about creating an album is the freedom to traverse all avenues musically, Egg adds.
"We explored a wide possibility of our interpretation of what dance music is. We have spent a long time writing these songs…and that’s the beautiful thing of recording an album, we can explore all avenues…musically."
"I guess it's like the rebirth for us because it's like this is the debut record but obviously, we had released a lot of music prior that it really feels like a big shift in such a positive way. It feels like this is really levelling up and maybe breaking through."
"I love feeling vulnerable on stage. That’s when you feel most at peace on stage."
The dichotomy of feeling both naked and fragile as well having a sense of self-assuredness when unveiling their new music is part and parcel of the experience, Egg professes.
"We feel both, you've got to feel both. It’s a layer of experience and that's what makes it so fun and so important. I love feeling vulnerable on stage. That’s when you feel most at peace on stage."
With "Teething" set to be released in April, their first foray to the USA, some-release promo shows and then, once the public has got a taste of the David Wrench produced-album, the world will be their oyster.
To hear the conversation continue, tune in to the two-part interview on RTL Play or through the players below:
