Each year, our small but dedicated team at Vanadian Avenue listens to thousands of new songs. We receive submissions through email, personal and industry recommendations, social media channels and words of mouth. Many songs are fantastic, absolutely beautiful, tiny works of art. And then few of them make such a strong impact on us, that we simply fall in love with the artists. “Reverberations”, by Maltese-British quartet ĠENN is probably the most beautiful song of 2025. The band has been making phenomenal music since 2021 and somehow they are not widely known yet. It’s a bloody shame because they deserve a monument at Triq ir-Repubblika back home and MBE in the UK. You call yourself music obsessive people? You do not deserve this esteemed title (coined by the BBC 6 Music legend Steve Lamacq) if you haven’t heard of ĠENN yet. Indieterria team to the rescue – read on and you shall learn all there is about the band and their new single.
Official bio: Formed on the island of Malta, Brighton-based Anglo-Maltese outfit ĠENN is: Janelle Borg – guitars (she/her), Sofia Rosa Cooper – drums (she/they), Leona Farrugia – vocals (she/they), and Leanne Zammit – bass (she/her). ĠENN is a self-described sisterhood founded on instinctive trust, their bold move to the UK mirrored by their 2023 debut album “unum” (a Latin word for oneness and unity). The album gained particular praise from the BBC 6 Music & KEXP for its ambitious negotiation of the band’s diverse roots – with a track-list that journeys through experimental rock, post-punk and Mediterranean folk. It’s little surprise that this has led to diverse invitations onto an international stage, appearing at renowned showcase festivals such as Eurosonic (NL) and The Great Escape (UK), alongside tours with Sub Pop Noise Rock heavyweights METZ, burgeoning post-punkers Deadletter and global art collective Pussy Riot.
“Reverberations” came out on 30th of October, but we had such a busy autumn schedule, that we only could squeeze the review a few weeks later. This track is absolutely magical, there is simply no better word for it. It has been described by musical press (including Louder than War, Clash and DORK) as spectral, ethereal, atmospheric, cosmic and phantasmagorical. This nearly 7 minute long masterpiece draws from several rock genres: prog rock, art rock, avant-garde, psychedelia and experimental rock with elements of post punk, garage, indie and cold wave.
The song is the band’s first single since the release of their debut album “unum” 2 years ago and was forged as a part of an intense collaboration with French musician, record producer and sound engineer Nicolas Congé aka Johnny Hostile (Savages, Jehnny Beth, John and Jehn). Mutual understanding, admiration and respect resulted in the long creative recording session that produced several tracks including the “Reverberations”.
I’m not an expert, but the song has millions of layers to it. Each layer is distorted, harmonized, echoed, repeated and mixed. I read an article that the group used crazy amounts of different BOSS pedals and reverbs in the studio for the sound effects as they wanted to create a complex and captivating sound landscape. True to its title, “Reverberations” creates a full life cycle for different sounds: some are born in a crazed cacophony of glitzy guitars, others in a vortex of bass and marching drums, some come to life through repetition of certain spoken/sang verses or single words and some are created by the sound bouncing off physical objects like studio walls or even human bodies. The sounds mix and interact with each other, mature and then die creating waves that can be felt as you listen to the track.
Few reviewers noted that Leona Farrugia, Genn’s lead singer sounds almost operatic in this track. Classically trained, and raised on the work of John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and Edith Piaf, Farrugia has total control of her voice. What I love is that the manner of her singing changes throughout the composition. At the beginning, she sings in a high pitched soft voice that would suit perfectly the dream pop/shoegaze genre. Then her voice becomes more and more hardened, rockier, more aggressive. By the 3 minute mark, she perfectly embodies the prog rock singers of the mid 80’s – the timbre is very well defined, strong, direct and commanding. The last two minutes of “Reverberations” are showing the full scare of Leona’s voice – the comparisons to opera singers are absolutely justified. She modulates her voice by slowly raising her register to a truly impressive range. I always put her as a mezzo soprano due to the warmness and richness of her sound, but here she breaks into the lyrical soprano territory. Do me a favour guys and under no circumstances, ever introduce Leona to the members of any symphonic metal bands out there. Grazzi.
I’m dead sure, “Reverberations” will utterly confuse less experienced listeners, especially those who are mostly used to the simplified/classic garage, post punk aesthetic. If the new material the band is making is anything like this single, ĠENN’s next album is going to be very eclectic and drift into the direction of art or avant-garde prog rock. In the world of silly pop, destruction of indie music at the hands of industry plants and the incoming AI slop, are listeners still interested in hearing music that’s passionate, unorthodox and let’s not be afraid to use this word, demanding?
I truly hope listeners will reject the beige, lifeless, manufactured crap that comes out through major record labels in recent years and turn to bands like ĠENN. Real art, real music is not made by rich kids. It is made in dive bars, small studios, on the streets by buskers. The music tells a story, hypnotizes or unsettles you – it wakes emotions and feelings.
20 years ago, “Reverberations” would be called an instant classic and the band would grace every cover of a European music magazine. These days ĠENN has to fight to even be noticed. But despite everything they are succeeding, because real art will never die.
ĠENN on the world wide web:
https://www.genntheband.com/
https://www.instagram.com/genntheband
https://www.facebook.com/genntheband
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEa7MROHzVbosHOVDYby8Xg
https://www.tiktok.com/@genntheband
https://genntheband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.threads.com/@genntheband
https://open.spotify.com/album/6NNOWVYxFs7aJX8VHbeNOL
Further reading:
https://articles.boss.info/reverberations-genns-janelle-borg-and-leona-farrugia/
https://louderthanwar.com/genn-reverberations-single-review-and-tour-news/
https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/genn-share-new-single-reverberations-and-announce-uk-headline-tour-dates
https://popoptica.com/2025/10/31/genn-reverberations/
You can order the physical copy of the single on a 7 inches lathe cut vinyl at:
https://www.resident-music.com/product/genn-reverberations
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 