ĠENN don’t do things quietly. The Brighton-via-Malta four-piece are back with their first release of 2026, and they’ve brought Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat along for the ride. Jaguar Sun is out now via Rock Action Records, and it’s exactly the kind of moody, genre-blurring collision you’d hope for from that pairing.
A Duet Born From Late-Night Emails
Stretching out over six atmospheric minutes, Jaguar Sun finds ĠENN doing what they do best: building a sprawling wall of sound that never once loses its groove. Vocalist Leona Farrugia glides between hushed, whispered couplets and full-throated soaring runs, trading verses with Moffat’s gravel-and-grit delivery in a vocal pairing that feels genuinely lived-in rather than bolted on.
That chemistry didn’t happen by accident. Leona says the idea for a duet clicked almost immediately: “We started jamming out the song and immediately I was intrigued by the idea of a duet. I could see the vision. When it developed even more, I could really hear Aidan’s voice… almost like a god coming from the heavens. I imagined the juxtaposition of the grit of Aidan’s voice but also his storytelling and aura in general.”
From there, the two spent a summer just talking — trading emails about the culture and media shaping the track before a single vocal was recorded. As Leona puts it: “it’s quite rare these days to find people who are willing to give you their time, and stop and think with you, and create something with you that is worthwhile and significant to both.”
Freedom, Free Will, and a Block Universe
Lyrically, Jaguar Sun is wrestling with big questions. Leona explains the headspace she was in while writing: “At the time I wrote the lyrics I had a lot of questions on whether one can really be ‘free’ and what the act of ‘freedom’ really is, how that translates in everyday life, the choices we make etc. The idea that sometimes we are mere observers or simply a protagonist watching from afar – AKA life being acted out. It is almost like a surreal experience / magical realism. We are sometimes so far removed from the reality that everything is lost, there is no sense of a higher self.”
Moffat, it turns out, was chewing on something remarkably similar from the other side of the collaboration. He recalls: “ĠENN were already on my radar, so the request to join them for a song was a very pleasant surprise. The instrumental they sent over was brilliantly and suitably moody to accommodate my gruff ramblings, so we had a chat about the song’s themes. I’d been reading about Einstein’s block universe model, and the philosophical questions it raises. Is free will real? Are our stories already written? It seemed to suit Leona’s themes well, so I recorded the vocal on my laptop in an empty studio room while the Arab Strap album was being mixed next door.”
The Reading List Behind the Record
True to form, the band’s cultural references run deep. The track’s title nods to Italo Calvino’s Under the Jaguar Sun, his unfinished final novel attempting to tell a story for each of the five senses. Further fingerprints come from The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the film La Chimera, and Low’s Double Negative.
Behind the boards, Jaguar Sun was co-produced by the band alongside Johnny Hostile (Savages / Jehnny Beth), Grammy winner Johnny Breakwell (PinkPantheress), and Tom Hill.
Critics Are Already On Board
Early reaction has been glowing. Pitchfork called it “Complex, ambitious post-punk with the chaotic energy of an informal jam.” DIY praised the band as “Versatile and multi-faceted,” CLASH called them “Vastly creative,” and Under The Radar summed it up as “stridently political and powerfully personal genre-blending.”
Who Are ĠENN?
Formed on the island of Malta and now based in Brighton, ĠENN is Janelle Borg (guitars, she/her), Sofia Rosa Cooper (drums, she/they), Leona Farrugia (vocals, she/they), and Leanne Zammit (bass, she/her). The band describes themselves as a sisterhood built on instinctive trust, with Maltese, British, Jamaican, and Portuguese heritage woven across the four members.
Their 2023 debut, ‘unum’, announced that same genre-blending ambition, earning acclaim from BBC6, KEXP, Pitchfork, The Independent, Loud & Quiet, CLASH, Under the Radar, DIY, and The Line of Best Fit — plus a UK Music Video Award nomination for the short film accompanying The Sister Of. Last year’s Reverberations opened a new chapter, teaming the band with Savages / Jehnny Beth producer Johnny Hostile, and has since led to slots at Eurosonic and The Great Escape alongside tours with METZ, Deadletter, and Pussy Riot.
ĠENN On Tour
The band head out on an extensive European and UK run through October and November:
October 2 — Paris, FR — Supersonic
October 3 — Eeklo, BE — N9 Muziekclub
October 5 — Berlin, DE — Schokoladen
October 6 — Hamburg, DE — Hafenklang
October 7 — Prague, CZ — Kulturní Klubovna
October 8 — Pfarrkirchen, DE — Spitalkirche
October 9 — Freiburg, DE — Slow Club
October 10 — Offenbach am Main, DE — Hafen 2
October 11 — Olpe, DE — Onyx
October 13 — Stuttgart, DE — Café Galao
October 14 — Tübingen, DE — Shedhalle
October 15 — Biel/Bienne, CH — Le Singe
October 16 — Torino, IT — Magazzino sul Po
October 17 — Pesaro, IT — Venue TBA
October 18 — Roma, IT — Wishlist
October 20 — Bologna, IT — Freakout
October 21 — Piove di Sacco (Padova), IT — Officina 19
October 22 — Aarau, CH — KIFF
October 31 — Leeds, ENG — Belgrave Music Hall
November 9 — Norwich, ENG — Voodoo Daddy’s
November 10 — Birkenhead, ENG — Future Yard
November 11 — London, ENG — The George Tavern
November 19 — Brighton, ENG — Green Store Door
November 26 — Southampton, ENG — The Joiners
Watch the visualizer for Jaguar Sun here, and stream the single here.
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