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Artist News Media Releases
Tunng tackle the taboo of discussing death on new album and podcast
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 25 September 2020
Tunng have announced their new album and an accompanying podcast series, both called ‘Dead Club’. Both will explore death and grief and how different cultures approach them.
The band challenge the taboo of talking about death on new single ‘Death Is The New Sex’, about which the band’s Sam Genders says: “It’s a song about how, by challenging taboos, we might arrive at a place closer to the truth and find ourselves better able to support each other as a result”.
“Whilst researching this project I’ve been struck by just how much of a taboo the subject of death is in our culture”, he goes on. “Partly because of the ways in which people have responded when I explained what we were working on. One person was seriously worried I might be suicidal, and others clearly felt it was an odd thing to explore”.
“Partly [also] because of my own reactions” he adds. “I often found myself nervous when talking about death or grief, or reaching for a socially acceptable way of phrasing an idea and struggling to find one. And yet, once the awkwardness has passed, I’ve also found that people are often eager to talk about how death and grief have affected their lives. Sometimes as if they’d be waiting far too long for the opportunity to unburden themselves”.
“Interestingly, I feel that in many modern settings people are more comfortable taking about sex than death”, he continues. “We’ve journeyed so far in the last 60 years when it comes to talking about sex and I think you can make a very good case for that being a good thing. I expect the average person knows more about avoiding STIs or unwanted pregnancy, and is more likely to be comfortable with the idea of sexual pleasure or their own sexuality than ever before”.
“I’m sure a lot of good has come from that. Now it seems like people are beginning to talk about death more. Imagine if we were so comfortable talking about death that everyone in our culture had the skills to support people who are grieving or to plan for the end of life for themselves or a loved one. It seems like there’s so much to gain. Palliative care is one obvious example of how more knowledge and awareness might help people live better lives”.
“The [new single] was inspired in part by my conversation with palliative care physician and writer Kathryn Mannix and her wonderful book ‘With The End In Mind'”, he concludes. “Lyrically the song has clearly been through the Tunng filter. I wrote the words with a fantastical, almost comic book quality in places, but it’s not flippant. I think these are genuinely important ideas”.
The album is set for release on 6 Nov, and the band have already released a number of episodes of the accompanying podcast, featuring interviews with Max Porter, Derren Brown, Kevin Young and Sue Black. Read more about the project here and listen to the podcast here.
