Indie rockers Gen and the Degenerates pay tribute to Jesus Green through song

One of Cambridge’s green spaces has found its way into song after it was given a musical treatment by a band member who grew up in the city.

Genevieve Glynn, who is known as Gen, is the lead singer and lyricist with Liverpool-based indie rock band Gen and the Degenerates.

She grew up in Cambridge and has penned an ode to Jesus Green, one of her favourite places in the city, on the band’s upcoming single.

Due to be released on August 3 across all major streaming platforms, Gen describes Jesus Green as a bright and summery indie rock track about being young in the summer.

The launch will be accompanied with a quirky guerilla marketing campaign.

“We’re going to leave lots of pairs of mysterious green sunglasses all over hotspots in our target cities – Liver pool, Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds – with the release date and single name written on the lenses,” said Gen, who left Cambridge at 18 to study at Liverpool John Moore’s University.

She continued: “The song is basically about that time of my life growing up with my friends and the kind of endless summer thing.

"It’s kind of a coming-of-age song about having fun, and a lot of our time was spent on Jesus Green. It just made sense.”

Gen, 22, graduated from university last year with a degree in drama and creative writing.

“As soon as I finished, I started a band and never did either of those things again,” she laughs.

The other members of the band – guitarists Sean Sloan and Jake Jones, bass player Jay Humphreys and drummer Evan Reeves – are from Leyland in Lancashire.

“I brought a couple of them to visit Cambridge a couple of years ago, and it was a big culture shock,” said Gen.

The band has released three singles to dates.

“This is going to be our fourth,” said Gen, who recalled many happy evenings spent in Cambridge’s Blue Moon pub, adding: “We’re aiming for an album eventually.”

For more information, visit Gen and the Degenerates’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, all of which are @gensdegenerates.