The Act: DESPERATE JOURNALIST

The Release: ‘JONATAN’

The Impact Date: JUNE 8TH 2019

The Truth: noirish indie/goth romantics DESPERATE JOURNALIST thundered back into the alt.rock marketplace with the release of their ‘In Search Of The Miraculous’ album in February. Feverishly acclaimed by Q, Mojo, Uncut, Classic Rock and right across the blogosphere board – some key words are “infectious”, “aerated”, “triumphant” and “the sound of being trapped in a firework factory on fire” – our crescendonic quartet continue the wordy theme with the digital release of the “undeniably pop-tastic” ‘Jonatan’.

‘Jonatan’ is the third ‘…Miraculous’ single release following last November’s ‘Cedars’, a Steve Lamacq Livener on BBC 6 Music, and fragrant February follow-up ‘Satellite’. Striding in on a knowingly gothic guitar line from Rob Hardy ‘Jonatan’ catches Desperate Journalist in fabulously world-weary mode, with singer Jo Bevan sighing “I never liked your favourite bands” atop a gently furious musical backdrop. If you’re searching for hidden meanings then the intense album track-by-track Bevan painstakingly constructed over at https://thequietus.com is short and to the point when it comes to 'Jonatan':

“I had a friend called Kasper from Northern Norway who was one of the most fascinating, vibrant, funny and earnest people I have ever met. He died shockingly young in 2016 and I am lucky to have spent some of my brief time on this earth in his company. This is a song about him.”

The aforementioned third album appeared on February 22nd on a playful pawful of formats, including CD, heavyweight vinyl and long-since sold out limited edition coloured vinyl, all of which was launched at a smashing instore at Rough Trade East on day of release. If the title conveys a sense of wide-eyed ambition then the music on ‘In Search Of The Miraculous’ fits the plot perfectly, featuring ten tracks fizzing with creative passion, giant choruses, heroic solos and poetic intensity. Warning: this album contains love songs, anti-love songs and other songs wandering about, lost in an in-between-daze. It’s a bit complicated.

Or, in the words of Jo: “It’s an album about the terrifying beauty of hope, and the excitement of possibility. And love. Because it always does come back to that really, if I’m honest.”

Last seen in London Town packing out The Highbury Garage in the spring of 2019, over the past five years Desperate Journalist have dazzled and delighted all and sundry with two excellent albums - ‘Desperate Journalist’ and ‘Grow Up’ – plus two effervescent standalone EPs and a raft of riotously enervating live shows running from The Scala to Stuttgart and back again. Go see them elevate at these appearances here:

May 8th – Hafenklang, Hamburg, Germany
May 9th – MTC, Cologne, Germany
May 10th – Kulturzentrum Merlin, Stuttgart, Germany
May 11th – Gleis 22, Munster, Germany
June 1st - Camden Rocks, London
June 29th - Front Row Festival, Fritwell nr Bicester
July 20th - Tramlines Fringe Festival, Sheffield
July 27th - Indietracks Festival, Derbyshire
August 18th - W-Fest, Belgium
August 31st - Koppelpop, Netherlands
September 7th - NCN Festival, Deutzen nr Leipzig, Germany

www.desperatejournalist.co.uk
www.fiercepanda.co.uk