Hello everybody, we're here today with Jon and Kitty from Saint Agnes. How are you?

Kitty - Good. Tired, but good.

Jon - Yeah, really good. Excited.


We're here today to talk about your upcoming album, Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin, which will be released on May 29th.
First, if you had to describe it in just one word, what would it be?

Kitty - I’d go for euphoric. Quite a difficult question, isn't it?

Jon - It is very hard. Hopeful.


Why?

Kitty - I think this album has a lot more light and shade in it. Certainly a lot more light. I think it's really beautiful. There are moments on it that feel expansive and uplifting, and they genuinely make me feel euphoric when I listen to them.

That feeling of euphoria was something I really wanted to capture on this record. With our last album, Bloodsuckers, I was in a very different place emotionally. I was grieving; I'd lost my mum. We started writing and recording that album shortly after she passed away, and making it was incredibly difficult. It was a painful process.

I wanted whatever came next to be filled with more joy and to be more fun to create because I'd become quite demoralised about making music. The experience had been so emotionally demanding that I genuinely wondered whether I wanted to put myself through that again.

Making a record is a very emotional experience. At least for me, it is. I think it's important to be vulnerable when you're writing songs. After Bloodsuckers, I was hesitant. I kept asking myself, "Do I even want to do this anymore?" because it had been so difficult.

So for me, it was really important that making this album felt lighter, freer, and ultimately more euphoric.

Jon - My answer is actually very similar. For me, it's hopeful because, to some extent, we'd both fallen out of love with the process of making music because of how brutal Bloodsuckers had been.

We gave everything to that record. And sometimes giving everything doesn't mean the experience is enjoyable. It can be artistically rewarding without being fun or something you want to repeat. So we were quite nervous about going through that process again.

Before we started, Kitty said, "Let's not overthink it. Let's just do what we want to do. Whatever we write is what we write. Whatever we want to say is what we want to say. And however we record it, whatever it turns into, that's what it becomes."

That sense of freedom felt incredible.
As soon as we started working on the album, it became exciting again. I felt hopeful about the future of the band, hopeful about enjoying music again, and hopeful about falling back in love with making music.

Musically, we also experimented a lot. We changed our approach to songwriting, even down to the keys we used. Previously, almost everything was written in minor keys. This time we wanted to explore major keys while still keeping a sense of darkness lingering in the background.

The image I always associate with Bloodsuckers is being horribly ill with a fever during the night ; that feeling that the darkness will never end, when you're exhausted, hallucinating, and everything feels awful.

This new record is the moment when you finally start feeling a little better. The sunlight begins to come through the window, a cool breeze enters the room, and you think: "Actually, maybe I'm going to be okay." That's what this album feels like to me.


What was the creative process? How was it in the studio?

Kitty - We worked with a producer for the first time, to begin with. We ended up taking the production back in-house and finishing the record ourselves, but we started with a producer. So we went into the studio and I think we had maybe two weeks, two and a half weeks, something like that.

None of the songs were really that fully formed. We had bits of songs, ideas for songs, but nothing concrete. Again, us taking our hands off the wheel and not controlling things was quite new for us because previously we'd done everything ourselves : writing, recording, mixing, producing, everything.

It was quite different. But I think going in like that helped us be freer because we weren't wedded to these ideas. We were like, "We're just going to go in and play, essentially, and get together, play, and see what happens."

Jon - Working with the producer didn't work out in the long term, but for the two weeks that we were with him, it did show us that we could enjoy the process. Kitty found a new way to sing, or new ways to approach the vocals, and we'd found maybe a new sonic palette. Then we took that and actually made the record that we realised we could make. So that process was kind of a transitional period that allowed us to do it.

Kitty - It gave us the courage, didn't it? To be like, "Oh no, we can do this."

Jon - Because we realised that, without being big-headed, if we can write a song in ten minutes, it's not necessarily going to be great, but it's going to be a song. We have no problem coming up with lots of ideas, and they might even be songs that people like. But we have to love them, and that's what we're always searching for: what do we love?

Of these five ideas that we're working on, which is the one we're actually thinking about when we go to bed? That's the one we'll work on. The rest of them we'll just forget about, and that's fine. Let them go. There's a freedom in that. Let the ideas that you don't love go, and just follow the energy of the moment, really.


And I saw that on the album you teamed up with Jim Pinder. How do you feel his involvement influenced the way the album turned out?

Kitty - I love what Jim did because he took the mixes John had already worked on to a certain point. Jim didn’t receive them as just random files. We were definitely quite firm about the direction we wanted because we find it hard not to do everything ourselves and micromanage every detail. It’s so important to us. The only thing we care about is that what comes out there sounds the way it sounds in here. I’m never thinking about the audience, management, or anything like that. It’s simply: is this what I wanted to do? So we find it difficult to work with other people.

Jon - It’s really hard to describe what’s in your head.

Kitty - Yeah, it’s really hard. We’ve been having conversations about this band for over a decade, so we can communicate with each other, but it’s harder to communicate that to others. When Jim got the mixes, it was fairly easy for him to understand where they were heading. But he sonically elevated them to a place we never could have reached ourselves. The record sounds gorgeous, and we simply don’t have those skills. Jim absolutely nailed it because he didn’t mess with what was already there. He just elevated it. That was perfect for us.

Jon - There were things I really loved when we spoke to him. For example, he said about the drums on Everything You Denied: “I can’t make that sound any better. I’m leaving it alone.” And we were like, “Great!” He didn’t feel the need to change things just because he could.

Kitty - There was no ego involved. It was a beautiful process.

Jon - But then he’d say, “I think I can do something with the guitars. I’m going to push them a bit more and tweak them.” That collaborative process was really valuable. He usually works on more modern metalcore-type productions, so this record was quite an unusual departure for him. He was interested in how we’d done things and why we’d made certain choices. Sometimes he’d even say, “I hope you guys don’t mind, but I haven’t made this section super slamming,” which is kind of his signature sound, “because I like the fact that it feels a bit raw and shaky.”

And we were like, “That’s exactly what we want.” We’re not really concerned with having a huge modern metal production. We just want it to sound right. And our version of “right” is, as Kitty said, this thing that exists in our heads and that we’re trying to explain. Sometimes it’s pristine, sometimes it’s dirty. We don’t really have rules. It’s difficult to describe, and Jim did a fantastic job of understanding that and helping us bring it to life.


And in a few words, how would you describe your evolution from your first album to now? Not only musically, but also personally as bandmates?

Kitty - It's the same, really. Our growth as people is mirrored in the records, I think. Someone said earlier that you can really track how I've grown as a woman from Welcome to Silvertown to now, because I was much younger then and so much has happened to me since. I think it's really clear when you listen to the records. But I'd say confidence. I think the records and my singing are so much more confident now; self-confident. I also felt much braver about trying different ways of singing.

Usually, I would only sing with Jon. We'd be locked away together in our home studio. So going into a producer's studio and having another person there suggesting things to me, like, "Could you sing it in this key?" or "Could you try singing it like this?"...

Before, I would have been so resistant and thought, "No, no, that's not how I sing." But before we went in, I decided that I was just going to say yes to everything and try everything. And it was revolutionary for me. I became the artist I'd always hoped I could become. Yeah, I feel great about it.

Jon - Yeah, I agree with all of that. I don't really have anything to add.


And you opened this new era with The Father, The Son, and The Holy Beast, which was released back in August. Why did you choose this one to open this new era and announce the album?

Kitty - Yeah, for me it was always going to be the first song. Before the label had heard the album, before anyone had heard it, I was saying, "That's going to be the first single." And thank God everyone agreed with me, which was great. I didn't have to fight for it, because sometimes you do have to fight for those decisions.

But it felt obvious to me because I don't even know what genre you'd call that song. It's so strange. It's so unusual. There's no chorus. It's such an odd song. And for me, that was exactly what made it exciting. I knew that people going from Bloodsuckers to that track would think, "Whoa, that's crazy."

I also think it contains so many of the elements that continue throughout the rest of the record. You've got this kind of orchestral beauty in there. You've got the really clubby, dance-oriented sections, which come back a lot across the album.

And then there's the language of the song itself, using religious imagery and religious vocabulary to describe falling out of love with someone, or falling out of love with something. So it contains all these touchstones that run throughout the album. And I just think it's a really cool way to start.

It gives people an idea that the record is a bit schizophrenic in the sense that it moves in lots of different directions, but everything you hear in that song is something you're going to hear explored further throughout the album. That's why I thought it was the perfect introduction.


I feel like, even though each song explores its own theme, they all seem connected in some way. Ultimately, they all reflect different aspects of the human experience. Do you draw inspiration from your own feelings when you write, and is songwriting a form of catharsis for you?

Kitty - Yeah, definitely. The answer to that is absolutely yes. I think, as my confidence has grown, my writing has become much more personal. It's difficult to put your feelings into a song when millions of streams and thousands of people might hear those very personal things.

But I think Bloodsuckers taught me something important. In particular, the song called This Is Not The End, which is kind of the ballad of that album, connected with people more than anything I'd written before.

Before that, I think I was hiding behind characters and different voices. With Bloodsuckers, I really started to write in my own voice, using my own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. The connection with the audience became something different, and something really positive. That encouraged me to think, no, this is what you should be doing.

The whole of Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin is made up of personal stories. There aren't really any characters anymore.

Jon - There's a song on the album called Everything You Denied, and I think it revolves around a very simple message: I was always enough. You're stronger now because you've accepted that truth, that you were always enough. That idea became a really important part of this record. Andy and I have been telling Kitty for years: don't worry, you're good. You're really good. Just do your thing. We love what you do. You don't need to compare yourself to anyone else. Of course, that's easy to say when you're not the person standing there singing.

On Bloodsuckers, you started to let go a little, and the songs where you let go the most are still the ones you love the most today. So with this record, it felt obvious that you should simply do your thing, whatever that was going to be. There are also a couple of songs on the album that offer a personal perspective on world events, like Gods of War and Good Boy. They're probably the most outward-looking songs you've ever written.

Kitty - They're quite political songs, which we've never really done so openly before.

Jon - But they're still your perspective. They're your personal take on those subjects.

Kitty - I was actually worried about that because all the songs deal with very different themes and very different experiences. I wondered if it all felt a bit too scattered.

But I was really hoping people would understand that it's simply my experience; what it's like to be a woman in her early thirties in 2025. That's what I was trying to express: this is what it's like. All of these things together are what life feels like.

Jon - Yeah, because there isn't just one thing. Life is complicated.

Kitty - Exactly.


Once again, you're tackling some bold subjects. You were talking about Good Boy, and there's also Gods of War. Even though the titles seem very different, they feel connected in the way they convey a message. Do you feel that music is a good way to denounce things artistically?

Kitty - Yeah, absolutely. I don't like to be too overt. I prefer being more poetic. That's not to say I don't think overtly political music is important, because I really do. Bands like Idles or Lambrini Girls are doing that brilliantly. I love that music, and I think it's incredibly important.

It just doesn't feel quite right for me personally to be that direct. The way I write is more poetic. But with Gods of War, I really felt I had to write it because of everything happening in the world. I don't know how, as an artist, you can just sit back and say nothing. It's appalling. What's happening in Gaza is appalling. That song was written specifically with that in mind, to be honest.

The lyrics aren't completely explicit, but I think when you listen to the song, you can understand where it's coming from.

Jon - Yeah, it was actually the first song that made me a little nervous. I'd written the music and had some initial ideas for it. In my mind, it was going to become something really gentle and personal. Then Kitty said, "No, I really want to write about fragile masculinity and the way it affects world events."

And I was like, "Well, that's a huge subject. Are we really the people to talk about that?" But then I read what Kitty had written and thought, "Oh, I get it now. I see the angle." I trusted her to do something meaningful with it. It was the first time where the final result was so different from what I'd originally imagined when I started writing the music. I had to step back and listen to it almost like a fan, discovering it for the first time.

Kitty - I also think it's important to understand that you don't have to say these things perfectly. What's important is that you're saying something. I think I was maybe nervous about that before. I worried about getting it wrong or saying the wrong thing. But I don't think that's the important part anymore. We're at a point where, with Trump, America, and everything happening around the world, it's just like, "Oh my God." That's why I wrote the song. I simply felt I had to say something.

Jon - Yeah, and I think that really comes across. One of Kitty's strengths as a songwriter is her ability to find something deeply human and relatable, even when she's writing about subjects that are huge or things she hasn't personally experienced.

It's one of my favourite songs on the record because of how it turned out. And it was such a surprise to see where it ended up compared to where it started, with me sitting at home playing a bass line and imagining something completely different. Watching that transformation happen is a really exciting part of being a musician.


If your album were the soundtrack to a movie, what kind of movie would it be?

Jon - That's a difficult question because, in the past, the answer would have been pretty obvious. We would probably have said something darker, more horror-oriented, more intense.

Kitty - What's the genre of film where it's all about someone going on a personal journey? You know, a story about growth and self-discovery? I think that's what it would be. It would be a really cool indie film about someone finding their way in life.

Jon - Yeah, definitely. We both love philosophical science fiction as well, things like The Matrix and Nineteen Eighty-Four. We actually had a cardboard cutout of Neo in the studio for some reason because we were completely obsessed with The Matrix at the time. I think that kind of sci-fi definitely influenced the atmosphere surrounding the record.

Kitty - And The Matrix is kind of that story too, isn't it?

Jon - Yeah, exactly. It's a personal journey. So maybe it would be The Matrix if it were remade today.


The album ends with Where Do I Begin?, which is kind of a paradox since it's the final track on the record. It also closes with what sounds like a fading heartbeat. What does that ending mean to you?

Jon - I love that you've picked up on those details. It's actually quite moving to hear because you're one of the first people we've spoken to about the record, and it's nice that you're looking beyond just the singles. That song was unusual to write because I'm not really a piano player, but I wrote both the music and the vocal melody, which I'd never done before. Usually, Kitty handles the vocal side while we collaborate on the music.

This time, I came up with the chords and a melody. The chords are quite complex, so the melody had to be very specific to fit over them. I felt like it was a beautiful piece of music and that it could become a really strong song and a fitting way to close the album.

Then Kitty went away and wrote the lyrics. When I heard them, I found them incredibly moving and quite sad. I hadn't realised how much she had been questioning herself ; wondering how much of who she is comes from herself and how much comes from the people around her who helped her through such a difficult period. That's really what Where Do I Begin? became about.

Kitty - Yeah, it was basically a thank you to Jon for… Sorry, I'm going to cry. Just for being there for me through everything that happened. Sorry, this is actually the first time we've ever talked about this.

Jon - Yeah, we've never even discussed it before.

Kitty - But I also felt like I'd lost myself a little because I relied on Jon so much. I reached a point where I felt I needed to separate myself and remember who I was outside of being someone who was being looked after and supported. Jon helped me so much. The rest of the band helped me. Even the fans helped me through that period.

So the song became both a thank-you and a question. At the end of the record, it's me looking ahead and asking: "What now?" I feel like myself again, or maybe a new version of myself. That's where the title comes from: Where do I begin? Where does all of this end? Who am I now? It's a sad song, but I'm actually in a much better place today. I don't feel sad anymore. I feel good.

Jon - Yeah. There are several references in the lyrics to the sea and water, and musically we wanted the ending to feel like rays of sunlight filtering through water, with bubbles slowly rising to the surface. I always imagined it as a form of acceptance ; sinking into a new environment and learning to exist within it.

When we were making the music, the ending happened almost by accident. Analogue synthesizers are strange things. They're basically electronic circuits that you connect together and hope they produce something interesting.

Kitty - And half the time we can't even recreate the sounds afterwards because we don't really know how to use them properly.

Jon - Exactly. One day, while I was playing, the synth started producing that sound you hear at the very end of the track. It just kept repeating by itself. To me, it sounded almost like sonar underwater.

I know some people hear it as a heart monitor, but that's not how I interpreted it. It just felt perfect that after everything on the album, after all the beauty and emotion, the record ends with a single electronic note repeating endlessly ; something we created, but which was now continuing on its own.

There was something strangely beautiful and a little sad about that. Like a tiny machine quietly carrying on by itself. That's what I picture when I hear it.


It's beautiful.
I have one final question. Do you have a message for your fans?

Jon - Yeah, thank you for your patience with us. We delayed things on our end with this record because we were so determined to get it right. I think our fans understand that the driving force behind everything we do isn't business, ego, or pride ; it's art. And I think our fans recognize that, and I'm incredibly grateful for it, because it gives us a bit of freedom when talking to management, labels, and everyone else. We can say, 'Look, the things that have worked for us are the things where you've trusted us to do things our way, to follow our artistic vision.'

With this record, we were originally supposed to have released it already, but we weren't happy with how some of the visual side had come together. We wanted to go deeper with it. We felt we needed to postpone it so we could build the whole world around the album and let people experience it properly, rather than just releasing one video and then dropping the record.

Kitty - Yeah, exactly. We're so lucky. When we delayed the album, we didn't receive a single negative message or comment. Everyone was just saying, 'Take your time, we'll be here waiting.' And I'm so grateful for that. It's really special to have a fanbase like that.

Jon - Yeah, our fans are genuinely the kindest people.


Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions today.

Jon - Thank you for such a great interview. I really enjoyed it.

Kitty - Yeah, lovely questions. Thank you.