Black Bordello are a quintet hailing from South London, which is also where their new song “Nunhead” is firmly rooted. Nunhead, for those unaware, is an area of South London that is particularly known for its legendary cemetery (one of the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’). It’s in this cemetery that their singer Sienna Bordello’s fears about the gentrification of her neighbourhood came to a fine point, inspiring the song “Nunhead”. The band say:
“‘Nunhead’ was written during the plague, at a time when people were confined to their houses. Sienna would visit Nunhead cemetery frequently as a place of refuge and to see the graves of her family members. There she was met face to face by the ills of gentrification. The place that always held profound, peaceful contemplation and wisdom buried deep within its grounds was now ruined by over-privileged pleasure makers who had no real connection to the area or its history. Sienna and the band felt this reflected the overarching psychopathy in our times.”
Beginning with the lines “Nunhead, they’re gonna take me there some day / And then I get to be dead and gone / And I can lie with you,” sung with Sienna’s piercing and swooping voice, we’re immediately clued into the kind of melodramatic song we’re in for. Black Bordello only up the ante from there, supporting their singer’s stark vocal capabilities with playing that is equally impressive, dashing between light and dark, quiet and loud, contained and expansive. This elastic and shapeshifting ability means that across the five minutes on “Nunhead” we feel as if we’re being swept through different areas of the cemetery, one minute bathed in golden light, the next pulled into a dark and moss-covered corner. Through these undulations, Sienna remains sharp as a knife vocally, but mentally dashes from a neurotic breakdown to all-out attack on the kinds of “bastards” she sees as ruining her future resting spot. By the time “Nunhead” reaches its dizzying, crashing peak, followed by a floating bass-driven outro, it feels like her soul is fully leaving her body to join her family in their plots – or perhaps to haunt all those unwanted tourists passing through.
The video for “Nunhead” was filmed in the cemetery itself, stars Sienna and was directed and edited by Will Reid. Watch it below, or find the song on streaming platforms.
“Nunhead” is Black Bordello’s first song for Hideous Mink Records. With more to come, make sure to follow Black Bordello on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
