After making a triumphant return with the dark-pop and introspective intensity of the recent single
‘run away girl’,
Alice Merton today shares the brand new single ‘
pick me up’. It’s the latest track to preview the brand new
‘Heron’ EP which follows on
April 12th. Listen to ‘
pick me up’ and pre-save the
‘Heron’ EP
HERE‘pick me up’s taut beat provides a sassy strut of a rhythm to heighten the fun factor of a song which brings throwback early 2000s pop sonics bounding into the present day. Alice co-wrote and co-produced the track with the Grammy-nominated Jonny Coffer (Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Ellie Goulding).
Alice says, “Sometimes relying on our own strength to help us get out of a rut isn’t enough, we need help from the outside: from our friends and family, people we love and trust. ‘pick me up’ talks about exactly that situation. Asking the question: if you can’t get up any more in the morning, will your friends still be by your side to help you out? Will they be the feet that drag you out of bed in the morning? Will they be the hands that feed you when you’ve lost your appetite for life? The paths laid out for us aren’t always easy, but it gives me relief to know that I have people by my side to help, and that I can be that person for someone else too.”
‘pick me up’ is released alongside a self-directed video which was shot in South Africa by Alice’s trusted DOP and regular collaborator Elias Köhler.
Both ‘pick me up’ and ‘run away girl’ will feature on the upcoming ‘Heron’ EP along with three as yet unreleased tracks. Alice explains the idea behind the project:
“When I first visited London, one of the first things I saw was a heron. I sat at the Barbican, in the middle of the night, and watched as these beautiful, majestic birds grazed in the water. It was around this time where I started writing again, not for a specific purpose but just writing about what was going on at the time. It was a new city, with new people and new impressions, and most importantly, it is the city I always dream of living in.
I felt like herons symbolised the city and everything I felt perfectly – a representation of self-reflection and transition. This past year has been one of the biggest transitions I have had in a very long time, but everywhere I went, I kept finding so much beauty and serenity in the strangest of places, and in the few special encounters I had the privilege of making.
This inspired me to write and reflect on so many feelings I was going through, and instead of talking about them, I decided to just write them down in these songs.”
In addition to Jonny Coffer, Alice’s collaborators on the ‘Heron’ EP include James Dring (Lana Del Rey, Self Esteem), Nick Hahn (Sigrid, IVE), Tobias Kuhn (DYLAN, Milky Chance) and her long-term co-writer Paul Whalley (‘Charlie Brown’, ‘Waste My Life’).
Alice recently announced details of a North American headline tour, and strong demand for tickets resulted in the opening date in Washington rapidly selling out, the Seattle show being upgraded after just a day, and New York als set to sell-out in the coming days. The tour will be her first time back in the States since touring as special guest to Bastille in 2022. A full list of dates and accompanying ticket information can be found HERE. Plans for an upcoming European headline tour are also in the works after last year’s sold-out London show at the Islington Assembly Hall, while another highlight of 2023 came with a stadium show as guest to P!NK.
Alice’s two studio albums, ‘MINT’ and ‘S.I.D.E.S.’, have accumulated over a billion streams and three million sales, while her international profile has seen her perform on the big US talk shows (Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, Jimmy Kimmel) and star as a coach on the German edition of ‘The Voice’.
