As the definition of the phrase ‘band’ continues to evolve, so does the music. Porji are far from the archetype, despite being four musicians having somewhat convention roles. Rather than relying on overplayed and outdated guitar driven music though, it is dance music sensibilities that shine through.
The rising act have just shared their highly-anticipated debut album, Teething. Co-produced by the band themselves and David Wrench (who has worked with Frankie Ocean and The xx amongst others), the sonics are eclectic, piercing, cinematic and ethereal, sometimes rousing sometimes tender, an immersive soundscape for singer, songwriter and keyboardist Egg (Scout Moore) to deliver swirling vocal performances, emitting sprawling narratives of coming of age, pain, love and discovery.
To celebrate the release, we asked Egg to take us through the fantastic record, track-by-track.
Listen to the album…
Read Egg’s exclusive insights…
“Marmite”
This song embraces being able to feel angry. I naturally shy away from confrontation but this song leans in to harnessing the power of that emotion. The chorus is full of harsh sounding words battling sweet sounding keys melodies and was a lot of fun to write and record.
“Unpredictable”
These lyrics came from a poem I wrote in November. It was fairly bleak but in essence was all about missing the simplicity of my early life but craving the complexity of the life that could come. In that period everything felt quite up and down, and I didn’t really know how I was going to feel from one day to the next.
“Don’t Talk To Me “
This song was born out of a place of frustration. The instrumentation is almost like a Western in the verses and I love have the floaty vocals over the jangly wonky guitar riff. It really highlights the unease in the lyrical content. It feels like the verses build up so much tension that when we get to the chorus the release is so needed. The chorus gets to the crux of the song emotionally with the repetition of the phrase, “I don’t understand where it went wrong” and paired with the maximalism of the instrumentation it feels like you get a chance to escape and transcend.
“Endlessly Waiting”
I wrote this song on a day off during a hectic tour. My friend had gone to New York and there’s a weird glitch in the matrix where every time she specifically goes to New York (not applicable for other places) my life falls apart in very strange ways. This song is a snapshot of what I was going through and is really just me willing her back to London.
“My Only Love”
This one is quite simply a love song. It’s a love song for the part of a relationship where you’re so settled into each other’s lives that you feel at home. Probably both the hardest and easiest song to write lyrically. Most of it flew out really quickly and I was suspicious of how straightforward it was. This all went out the window when the bridge came about.
Instrumentally this bridge took us ages and we rewrote it many times. When we settled on the current version I’d just been through a difficult patch in my relationship and suddenly I was confronted with the idea that it could all fall apart. I tried to re-frame the song with that fragility in mind, and the bridge was my opportunity to do so.
I went to see Dancing at Lughnasa at the National Theatre and was completely struck by a moment in the closing monologue which has the line “Dancing with eyes half-closed because to open them would break the spell.” This felt so fitting to how I was immediately dealing with the conflict I was experiencing. The power of succumbing to denial felt particularly inviting.
Over time the lyrics settled and this song anchors on the thoughts in the bridge saying “I don’t know if this will be my forever love but it’s my only love for now”. It’s easy to put pressure on a long-term relationship but through this song I remembered to enjoy each moment and not take things too seriously.
“Ghost”
This song is about losing a friend. A lot of songs come about through relationship breakups but less talked about are friendship breakups and they’re just as brutal. The chorus is about the moments before it’s over when you know it’s finished, and reminiscing on what could’ve been done to avoid the situation. It feels oddly retrospective even though it’s in the present tense.
“Stranger”
“Stranger” is about my personal experience as a non-binary individual. It touches on themes of gender dysphoria and highlights how sometimes the smallest things carry the most weight. It’s incredibly introspective and perhaps the most honest and vulnerable song on the album.
“Sweet Risk”
“Sweet Risk” is so silly, in such a fun way. I wrote the first draft of this tune as a joke and everyone really liked it so it ended up being done properly. I really wanted a grand intro in one of the songs and this one brought me so much joy when making it. It happened very organically, and I can’t imagine the song without it. This tune is all about indulging in fantasy and living out scenarios in your head.
“Gutter Punch”
This song is a series of vignettes. The lyrics are built from various poems and journal entries I did towards the end of summer/early Autumn 2022. We’d had such a busy year that afterwards I had an adrenaline comedown and was left feeling quite numb. I don’t think “gutter punch” is a real phrase, but it felt very visceral and perfectly described how I was feeling.
“You Should Know Me”
I think there’s a vulnerability even in bravado. It’s such a surface level song but it’s all about showing a fully three dimensional of yourself even if that’s not appealing. It’s about getting to know all of someone and the anticipation of that happening. It’s definitely the most balls to the walls tune on this record and takes big influence from early noughties UK dance music.