We’re really proud of the song, as it’s the first single that we’ve written, recorded, mixed and produced ourselves. Musically, the song is a collision of influences, with The Cure and Cocteau Twins meeting DIIV and Alcest on a dark road at midnight. Lyrically, January touches on subjects that are often difficult to talk about. The world can seem uncaring and chaotic. Wearing a mask to hide our true feelings is exhausting. But there is hope, and sometimes just breathing and letting the world flow over you is a valid response.

January

You Are Not The Sun

Autumn Ritual is directly inspired by Louis MacNeice’s epic 1938 poem Autumn Journal, drawing on themes of loss, self-deprecation, and the futility of human rituals in the face of approaching catastrophe. Produced by Danny Woodward (BC Camplight, Circa Waves, Ladytron), the song takes its musical cues from Holy Bible-era Manic Street Preachers and Foals, with effect-laden guitars building to crescendo after crescendo. Lyrical inspiration other than the poetry of MacNeice is diverse, drawing on folk horror, the books of Iain Sinclair and John Higgs, and a peculiarly British strain of ennui and sadness that has been a focus of writers and poets for hundreds of years, that Robert Macfarlane calls ‘English Eerie’ – “the skull beneath the skin of the countryside”.
Autumn Ritual is the third single from Liverpool band The Entire City, a duo consisting of singer and guitarist Jamie and drummer Jams. Sellout shows in their hometown have led to acclaim from press and fans alike.

Autumn Ritual

“Their songs have an expansiveness that makes them sound far vaster than the sum of their parts” Bearded Magazine