The fiercely strong and flawlessly honest song-writing of Melbourne’s Mojo Ruiz de Luzuriaga, aka Mojo Juju, joins PBS for a Studio 5 Live in anticipation of her soon to be released third studio album NATIVE TONGUE.
The opening track of the same name, cuts directly to the bone. Lead by a mesmerising beat (courtesy of Joelistics) and the haunting vocal work of the Pasefika Vitoria Choir, Juju treats these opening moments like a live exorcism; she takes a hand over either side of her chest and turns herself completely inside out, laying her innermost workings bare for all to see.
She pulls no punches and offers no quarter, tearing at the foundations of the institutionalised prejudices she has had to face as a mixed race, queer woman, growing up in a country with no place for her, never feeling enough a part of any one community to be accepted. It is a song that manages to be so personal and painful, yet simultaneously empowering and anthemic, as though it were written for every mixed race or Indigenous person who has ever felt like they did not belong.
NATIVE TONGUE is a fitting title for the third studio album from Mojo Juju and it is her very essence laid bare. It is raw, honest, emotional and intrinsically political. It is also brutal and relentlessly real.
Listen back to Homebrew for Mojo Juju's live performance. Studio 5 Live is proudly brought to you by Mountain Goat.
