Saint Agnes

The London-based four-piece Saint Agnes forges a raw, ferocious take on blues-infused psychedelic and garage rock spanning multiple eras. Clear touchstones such as the White Stripes and the Kills combine with Kitty Austen's commanding vocals and Jon Tufnell's intense guitar textures, while further echoes of Mazzy Star, the Gun Club, and Ennio Morricone surface throughout their work. A visual style drawn from cult films such as Anna Biller's The Love Witch enhances the approach, which stood out sharply on the 2019 album Welcome to Silvertown. A worldwide pandemic, personal loss, and internal resolve supplied the drive behind their charged follow-up, Bloodsuckers, released in 2023 as their debut for Spinefarm.

Saint Agnes formed after vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Austen and vocalist/guitarist Tufnell crossed paths in separate projects. Shared enthusiasm for blues, garage, psych, and spaghetti Western soundtracks led them to begin tracking material inside an East London studio. They adopted the name of the patron saint of chastity and surfaced in 2014 through the singles Old Bone Rattle and A Beautiful Day for Murder plus a cover of the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues," which highlighted Austen's sultry vocals and Tufnell's fiery guitar work. The lineup became a quartet in 2015 with the addition of bassist Ben Chernett and drummer Andy Head, yielding the Live Under London EP that year. In 2016 the band issued "Merry Mother of God Go Round" and "Sister Electric" on their own Death or Glory Gang Records imprint. Two years later they returned with the single "Witching Hour" and The Death or Glory Gang EP. Their self-produced debut album Welcome to Silvertown, titled after the London district they call home, appeared in May 2019.

Festival appearances including Isle of Wight and headline runs through the U.K. and Germany ended once the COVID-19 pandemic halted live events. Austen's mother also died suddenly. The band answered by writing and recording a largely self-produced and self-mixed EP and album. The six-song Vampire, containing covers of Nick Cave and Nine Inch Nails, arrived in March 2021. Spinefarm became the home for the full-length Bloodsuckers, issued in mid-2023 with a guest spot from doom trap artist Mimi Barks. In the same stretch Saint Agnes toured alongside Monster Magnet and brought in bassist Ryan Brown to replace Chernett.