SAINT AGNES: Writing Their Way Back to Life

“Compared to where we'd been, the alternative was to end the band, so we might as well just try this and see if we fall back in love with it.” Kitty A. Austen says this almost breezily, reminiscing on SAINT AGNES’ experience recording emotionally decimating album BLOODSUCKERS, an album borne from grief and turmoil that, at times, is still overwhelming for the band and vocalist Kitty in particular. Where it could have broken them down they instead made space for the grief to exist in a present but unobtrusive manner, the ongoing results being them healing as individuals and a unit and feeling able to create their boldest and most triumphant work to date, Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin.

“We went into the studio with the intention that we would go with whatever inspired us in the moment,” guitarist Jon James Tuffnell explains of their recording process. “Because we didn't know what we wanted to make, and we absolutely didn't feel the pressure in any way to have to sound like what we'd done before.” This candidness is a testament to how they moved forward as a band in letting go of a rigid recording process and choosing to enjoy their time in the studio, a time they intend to celebrate as friends when they're on a break from their support and festival slots.

Going with the flow and taking it easy is unfamiliar for them, self-confessing to having “lofty ideas” they only trust themselves to see to fruition. “We are kind of control freaks in the sense that we have such a specific idea of how we think things should be. You've got to have a good working relationship with someone, normally you need time,” admits Tuffnell. “We do all of that ourselves. We come up with a concept, we book everything, we direct it, we edit the videos. We know we can't afford to do it in the conventional way of hiring a director and teams, so we just teach ourselves how to do it.”

This DIY approach has seen them learn to play entirely new instruments in a bold approach to enhancing their sound and introducing methods that have been an ambition up to this point. “We just bought some synths secondhand and clone versions of synths,” Austen explains, “We bought them because I wanted to play and be inspired by something new. The childlike fun of taking a different path, really.” “I'll just know that we need something like that, and be like, ‘well I kind of know how to do that on a guitar, but I also know how it's gonna sound’, and I'd like to try and do it with something else,” Tuffnell adds. Austen sums up their new approach, “There's a lot of different genres in the record, and a lot of different ways of singing and playing, and I think that's because we were just feeling so light going into that record.”

SAINT AGNES are no strangers to creating new elements to accompany their sound, their self-taught proficiency expanding past music into the technical and artistic industries. ““I like shows that don't necessarily have a constraint on them, using [lights] in a kind of artistic way to enhance the performance is really exciting,” says Tuffnell as they reminisce on their slot at Hellfest 2024 where they utilised screens they only found out hours before they had access to use, Tuffnell putting together a design in mere hours around soundchecks and load-in. “I think a graphic novel would be so perfect for our band of songs, I'd love to have a companion to the album, because there is a lot of vivid imagery and stories there that would really lend themselves to a dark graphic novel,” Austen considers, her visual creativity the main driving force behind the band’s lyrics. “The Beast I see at the start of the song is like a massive wolf, blocking out all of the light coming through, a terrifying, hulking monster. By the end I see it as a puppy, because the song is about letting grief in and making a friend of it.  You don't have a choice, you're gonna have to carry it with you throughout life. So, learn how to live with it and hold it.”

The Beast has certainly resonated with many fans who have interpreted the lyrics to mould around their personal experiences and help them heal, Austen being made aware of the song’s impact by the number of fans sharing their stories and thanking the band. “If that's the way you're hearing it. It's also about that music is universal, isn't it? I think the more honest the song is, the more it resonates with people. And that's always my goal now, is to just try and strip away layers of artifice, and try to be as honest and vulnerable as possible, because that really seems to make sense. It connects with people. Existing is lonely, so anything that can make people feel less alone is a really worthwhile endeavour.” It’s this honesty and vulnerability in their characters and music that has seen an influx of new fans come out to support them, not only to feel seen by the music but to connect with the band as they work through their grief together. As new listeners fall in love with their music, so too has SAINT AGNES fallen back in love.

Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin was released on 29th May 2026 via Spinefarm.

Words: Julia Stark

Photos: Jesse Rose

With thanks to: Spinefarm and Saint Agnes