It’s been four years since we reviewed Merpire‘s last official release, the album ‘Simulation Ride’, and the Naarm/Melbourne-based award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter (the nom-de-plume of Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt) is back with a new single ‘Premonition’.
Merpire’s yearning style and velvet soft vocals remains to the fore in this silky smooth track, filled with a languorous dreamy atmosphere ripe for release on Valentine’s Day. The song is built on an aquatic synth riff with a driving insistent beat and chiming guitars, expressing a charming romantic melancholy:
There’s a pull in my skin
To show you where you’ve not been
It’s all I think about
Merpire says of the track:
I was reading my first fantasy novel at the time, ‘The Name Of The Wind’ by Patrick Rothfuss. The lyrics and scene-building of this song were inspired by the main-character in the novel and the way they felt about another character. The honest detail is achingly relatable. It got me thinking about the most intense moments of a crush. The lyrics just flowed from there, but it was a hard song to produce – it sounded like two different songs for a while. We kept at it and eventually James magically and skillfully sewed elements together to sound the way I was visualising the scene – kind of stalky, woozy and dramatic.
It’s deliciously dark pop that radiates bliss. The track is accompanied by a self-directed video:
‘Premonition’ is out today and available to download and stream here and via all the usual sites.
The single and video arrive ahead of Merpire’s performance at Brunswick Music Festival’s 2x-sold-out event At The Altar Of Us with Ruby Gill and Porpoise Spit, an all-ages, intimate evening celebrating queer talent with storytelling and songs, under the glow of the stained-glass windows of Brunswick Uniting Church – details below.
Wednesday, 5 March – Brunswick Music Festival – At The Altar Of Us w/ Ruby Gill + Porpoise Spit – Naarm/MEL, Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country VIC
Tickets via brunswickmusicfestival.com.au
Feature Photograph: Rick Clifford
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