South London Psych-Rockers Children of The Pope Announce Debut Album 'Moonface Supreme' Released 25th October 2024 via Panache

South London psych rock band Children of The Pope are pleased to announce they have signed to Paris-based independent label Panache, and will release their debut album Moonface Supreme on 25th October 2024.

Lead single ‘Kid’—a surrealistic bittersweet ballad portraying youthful wonder amongst the melancholy of time—is out now, and to celebrate the news, the band are also releasing new single ‘I Go Downtown’ on 17th July 2024 via all good digital service providers.

‘When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.’ - Here's the Children of The Pope...

In the grimiest parts of South London, amongst the shady pubs and ballrooms, COTP was formed sometime in late 2018 by guitarist Guilherme Fells and front man Juno Valentine, who had travelled 5000 miles solo from Brazil to London at the tender age of 18 with the express intention of starting a band. After a short series of adjustments to the line up, the band was resurrected in a gathering of old friends following the recruitment of scene veterans Matilda Harding (Poison Ivy’s lost apprentice) on guitar, keys, and vocals, and Jasper Eade on bass.

Quickly gathering a reputation for their hell-bent, electrifying performances thanks to sold out shows alongside the likes of Black Lips, Fat White Family, Insecure Men, and a UK tour with The Honkies, COTP foreground their love for dirty guitars, manic shouting, and surrealist melodies citing Os Mutantes, Link Wray, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins as key influences.

The gang have been beautifully portrayed by South London cinematographer Lou Smith on many occasions both in live performances and music videos, honourably depicted in Dave Thomson’s book Woo! Strange Happenings at the Windmill and other Tangential Rants, and gifted with a headline show celebrating the release.

“We wanted to discard the unimportant,” say the band about the approach they took to writing their forthcoming debut. “Songs about life and the living, and songs about death and the dead. Songs about God and the heavenly, songs about hell and the unholy. Sounds of youthful wonder and the melancholy of time. Love and hate and the opposites of the great untold, in extreme, melted together in a boundless pot of sweet surrealist molasses; the all, through the unmodified eye.”

Recording the album was an against-the-clock, under-pressure process for the band that turned out to be very fruitful. “We recorded 12 tracks in 5 days in the dead of winter 2022,” they explain of the process. “Snow and ice and trying to explore the depths of our minds in a dimly lit room, trying to put surrealism to tape. Everything was recorded on 2 inch reel to reel in live takes (apart from a few overdubs also recorded onto tape). We did not turn a single computer on until the mixing process.”

Their first run of independent singles drew early attention from Totally Wired, Clunk Magazine, Hard of Hearing Mag, Lost and Found Magazine, and more

The band will be announcing details of the album and further live dates, including October 2024 French tour dates, over the coming months.

Moonface Supreme is released 25th October 2024 via Panache

UK Live Dates:

17th July - Brighton - Prince Albert

01st August - London - Moth Club

24th August - Brixton - Windmill

7th September - Glasgow - Freakender