(“I only stay in the hope of…”) Leaving With You – gutsy, driving guitar underscores this album’s wishful opener.
How fun were those halcyon nights, hitting the town all dolled-up and hoping to ‘run into’ your latest crush? Preloading on black Sambuca shots with your besties, rehearsing responses to potential questions/advances, then dominating the d-floor ‘til lights up – Merpire transports us right back there with this glittering track.
Melbourne-based artist Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt’s vocals are delivered with delicious subtlety, emotion bubbling right below the surface rather than slapping you across the face.
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There’s a yearning quality to her vocals (see: the continually climbing fig.8, which showcases astonishing range). “You play songs for chickens” – delightful imagery abounds. Singsongy, nostalgic melodies sugarcoat Cinnamon (“I smell it on the air it’s a hug in the kitchen”) – an abandonment song.
Lyrics are perfectly engineered for shout-alongs and pogoing group embraces (eg. “I’m just a little bit in love with all of my friends”, “I wanna have the time of my life!”). The unapologetically sexy Bigger – “With your fingers in my mouth/ And when I stopped you going south…” – is resplendent with blazing riffs and a whole lotta ‘tude.
Rosanna (as in the suburb) pars back to distant, military drumming and forlorn strumming before instrumental abundance reenters.
“Don’t worry my algorithm’s working this one out” – Internet, a piano lament, leads straight into the softly strummed closer, You Are Loved – just in case you forget.
Rocking chairs, sneaking out of bedroom windows, “a pile of faded jeans”, Golden Retrievers – you’re gonna wanna dive into Milk Pool and float around there for a while.
LABEL: INDEPENDENT. RELEASE: 4 JULY
