The Pogues vocalist Iona Zajac shares single and music video for “Murder Mystery”

Iona Zajac shares new song and music video for “Murder Mystery“

Debut album Bang out 21st November

Iona Zajac by Zillah Rauter

Today, Iona Zajac shares her new single “Murder Mystery” from her upcoming 21st November debut album Bang.

Despite Bang being her debut, Iona, as a musician, has achieved more than many musicians could dream of. Cutting her teeth initially as half of folk duo Avocet, her work that followed as a solo artist has pushed her to new heights, performing alongside legends Alison Moyet, Lankum, and Lisa O’Neill, among others. Beginning at the end of last year, Iona has started performing alongside The Pogues, a role that has seen her grace the Barrowland Ballroom, Brixton Academy, and, recently, return from a tour of the American East Coast with the legendary band.

With Bang, Iona delivers far more than a simply an early collection of songs. The record is an unflinching exploration of survival and reclamation, drawing on her own experiences while giving voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. Through raw honesty and striking lyricism, she transforms pain into power, and vulnerability into defiance.

With “Murder Mystery”, Iona Zajac invites listeners into a surreal world where the familiar turns unsettling – and the unsettling, empowering. “Murder Mystery is a surreal exploration of discomfort,” Iona explains. “A fearless dive into the scary everyday fears women live with. It’s a song that plays with questions about a woman’s place in the world and the space we occupy – of femininity, of reputation, of fear and defiance. Where Scandi Noire meets police corruption in a Milk Murder.”

Listen to “Murder Mystery” HERE

The accompanying music video, directed by Zillah Rauter, brings this tension vividly to life through a character that embodies Iona’s imagined alter ego – a woman both grotesque and glorious in her self-possession. “For the video we created my alter ego – a woman who lives in her fearless own world. It’s both perfect and revolting, and it’s absolutely hers,” Iona says. “She sleeps standing up, she keeps her iron in the fridge, she wears fake talons on her feet… She does exactly what she likes.”

Watch the music video for “Murder Mystery” here:

Rauter expands on this vision: “Iona’s lyrics in Murder Mystery made me reflect on our urge to run from parts of ourselves. The song inspired in me the value of not only sitting with discomfort, but embracing it; finding the harmony between the Divine and the Gruesome.”

That harmony is made tangible through striking imagery – the slicing of a lamb’s heart, the filling of a cereal bowl with nails, the dismembering of dolls – a macabre dance between beauty and brutality. Shot through both a voyeuristic 4K lens and the perspective of her bunny companion on DV tape, the video builds toward its haunting conclusion: the orchestration of her own fatal ending.

Murder Mystery sets the tone for Bang – a debut album that looks darkness in the eye and transforms it into something human and unflinching. By confronting the uncomfortable, Iona Zajac turns fear into defiance, vulnerability into power, and in doing so, opens a space for others to see themselves reflected.

Bang album artwork

Bang tracklisting

Bowls
Bang
Dilute
Summer
End of the Year
Anton
Salt
Chicken Supermarket
Murder Mystery
Ridiculous Hat
Loving is Rough

Iona Zajac live
Oct 29th – The Mac Downstairs, Belfast Int’l Arts Festival (w/ Lisa O’Neill)
Oct 30th – The Mac Downstairs, Belfast Int’l Arts Festival (w/ Lisa O’Neill)
Nov 2nd – Town Hall Theatre, Galway (w/ Lisa O’Neill)
Nov 16th – The Louisiana, Bristol (Co-headline w/ Robin Kester)
Nov 18th – The Castle Hotel, Manchester (Co-headline w/ Robin Kester)
Nov 20th – The Attic, Leeds (Co-headline w/ Robin Kester)
Nov 23rd – Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh (Co-headline w/ Robin Kester)
Nov 24th – The Hug & Pints, Glasgow (Co-headline w/ Robin Kester)
November 27th – The Social, London – (Headline)

More on Bang:

Zajac’s strength as an artist lies in her ability to balance light and dark with startling ease. While songs like “Bowls,” “Dilute” and “Anton” anchor the record in raw explorations of violence and intimacy, elsewhere she lets surrealism and humour take centre stage. The dreamlike “Chicken Supermarket” imagines hallucinatory encounters with Billy Connolly and seas of jelly, while the exuberant title track revels in sexual liberation with infectious, pop-fuelled guitar tones. This tonal dexterity – at once bruising and playful – places Zajac alongside kindred spirits such as PJ Harvey and Angel Olsen, artists unafraid to marry the intimate with the explosive.

Her commanding voice, honed on stages across the UK and Europe, has seen her tour with Mercury Rev, Arab Strap, Lankum, and Cassandra Jenkins, as well as join Alison Moyet on her sold-out 2025 tour. Last year, she was invited to perform with The Pogues at their landmark reunion in Dublin, later touring with the band through packed shows at Brixton Academy, Manchester Apollo, and Glasgow’s Barrowlands. With her own headline shows on the horizon, Zajac’s reputation as one of the UK’s most vital new voices is only growing stronger.

Bang was recorded at Post Electric Studio in Edinburgh with producer Dani Bennett-Spragg, alongside Joe Taylor (drums), Ellie Mason (guitar, synths), and Ben Manning (bass). Drawing on influences from Sibylle Baier and Portishead to her Polish and Ukrainian heritage, Zajac weaves together intimate acoustic moments and full-band dynamism with an intensity that reflects her arresting live performances.