Irish composer and producer BK Pepper has released “Common Ground,” the lead single from his forthcoming second album ‘Pagan,’ arriving April 24 via London-based label Bigo & Twigetti. The single is out now, and it announces an album of genuine scale and ambition, recorded with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, The Glasshouse Ensemble, and acclaimed violinist Viktor Orri Árnason.
“Common Ground” opens ‘Pagan’ with a piece that pairs orchestral sweep with intimate layered vocals and hushed brass textures. It builds deliberately, mirroring the slow work of genuine human understanding. “Common Ground came from a need to believe that connection is still possible,” Pepper shares. “There is so much noise and division in the world, but underneath it all I think we are far more alike than we admit.” The restraint in the arrangement is as powerful as any of its larger moments.
‘Pagan’ follows Pepper’s critically acclaimed 2020 debut ‘Territories’ and widens the lens considerably. Where that album turned inward, this one confronts systems of belief, religious, political, and personal, and what happens when they fracture. “I was drawn to the idea of the pagan as someone outside the dominant narrative, someone questioning, resisting or searching,” Pepper explains. The album moves between cinematic orchestration and stripped-back vulnerability throughout, both collective and deeply personal in equal measure.
Pepper has recorded at Abbey Road Studios and in unconventional spaces including converted swimming pools. His recent score for the 2024 feature film ‘Swing Bout’ is currently streaming on Apple TV. His live performance film ‘From An Empty Castle’ from 2021 demonstrated his ability to merge striking visual environments with immersive sound.
‘Pagan’ is one of the more compelling orchestral releases on the 2026 calendar, arriving April 24 via Bigo & Twigetti.