Pijn

Symphonic post-rock pulled from the throes of mourning

Pijn’s name is pronounced ‘pine’. “There’s a list on our Google Drive of all the possible pronunciations that we’ve heard so far, and it’s very long,” laughs guitarist and band leader Joe Clayton. “The weirdest one is ‘pinge’ – they were just moving the letters around to suit what they want! ‘Peeing’, that’s a good one.”

A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, however, and Pijn’s blend of prog, post-rock and symphonic music is particularly sublime to behold. On their two albums, the Manchester-based collective lay down sweeping, polyrhythmic compositions, each one dynamic and building to an evocative crescendo. Then, they layer gorgeous cellos on top to seal the orchestral and powerful atmosphere.

The band’s latest release, this summer’s //From Low Beams Of Hope//, is especially progressive. In contrast to their prior full-length, 2018’s //Loss//, the songs are long-running and free-flowing, with only four filling up the 40-plus-minute runtime.

“The starting points for the album, musically, were really obscure progressive bands, like [Japanese experimental project] Goat and their use of rhythm and structure,” says Clayton. “I was like, ‘Alright, We need to do this in our own way.’”

The music is also less regimented than on //Loss//. “We decided to really lean into doing this differently and trying not to do the same thing. It helped to have the album sort of, like, form itself as we started to write.”

Clayton founded Pijn with the outfit’s former drummer, Nick Watmough. The pair were heavily inspired by such progressive post-rockers as Russian Circles and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. They also wanted to make music that would see them through personal struggles. In Clayton’s case, his ex-partner had recently passed away.

“That’s been the main driving force for a lot of the last few years, even though it was quite a few years ago now,” he reveals. “It was nine years ago. It’s something that I’ve been through and a lot of people have been through something similar. While I couldn’t talk about things like that for a very long time, it’s been a big part [of Pijn].”

Where //Loss// (as its title implies) was rooted in the pain of someone close dying, Clayton describes //From Low Beams…// as “much lighter”. Though it was composed more loosely than its predecessor, the album pulls themes from a spoken-word poem in its first track, lines of which were written by Clayton, Watmough and more. “I’ve managed to do a lot of things that I didn’t think were possible for a long time, and find myself in a better place,” the guitarist says to explain his contributions.

Ultimately, Clayton’s goal for Pijn is for others who’ve endured hardships like his to hear themselves in the music. “Pijn, for me, is a reflection of what’s going on or a process of getting through something,” he says. “So, for someone who’s been through losing someone close, if they find catharsis in our music, I’ll be delighted.” MM

PROG FILE:
LINEUP: Joe Clayton (guitars), Maggie Lister (cello), Ed Bottomley (bass, saxophone), Jon Vernon (drums), Thomas Ragsdale (keys)
SOUNDS LIKE: Godspeed You! Black Emperor were shown how to be extra-symphonic by Hans Zimmer
CURRENT RELEASE: From Low Beams Of Hope is out now via Floodlit Recordings
WEBSITE: www.pijn.bandcamp.com

— Matt Mills