Merpire shares new single “Leaving With You“

Milk Pool out 4th July

Merpire by Rick Clifford

SUPPORT FOR MERPIRE

“A moving and impressive collection of indie pop…a perfect cathartic release” – NME

“Manages to strike the perfect balance between vulnerability and mystery with her movie-like romanticism. [Merpire] has a skill for making sun-drenched sounds that have a post-break-up poignance, as if you are watching (or belong in) a coming of age film” – CLASH

“Every new Merpire track is a new opportunity to marvel at the voice and the writing, and appreciate the production. Milk Pool forever.”
– triple j, Luka Muller

“a genuinely bold, no-strings artist who is clearly true to herself, and brings as much authenticity as she can into her music” – Atwood Magazine

“Deliciously dark pop that radiates bliss” – Backseat Mafia

Naarm/Melbourne’s Merpire aka Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt (she/her) today shares new single + video “Leaving With You“ – an intoxicating blend of indie/alternative sounds and chromatic dark pop, the latest in her trilogy of singles plunging further into “desire for desire” – this time into an exhilarated, restless space, bursting with the kind of jumpy, ever-climbing emotion that can ripple around the “what if?” of yearning for a crush. “Leaving With You” follows the equally starry-eyed singles “Bigger“ & “Premonition“ taken from her forthcoming album MILK POOL out 4th July – an album for the romantics, the daydreamers, and those moving through intense periods of change.

Pre-order Milk Pool on vinyl HERE / pre-save HERE.

Co-produced by Merpire and James Seymour (Pillow Queens, Elizabeth M. Drummond, Jacob Diamond), “Leaving With You” is a breathless combination of heady, erratic indie songwriting and chromatic, ascending dark-pop featuring inner-monologue verses and a dreamy pre-chorus that kicks into desperate vocals, head-bang-worthy drums and searing guitars with instrumentation from Merpire, Seymour and Jess Ellwood (Julia Jacklin, Alex Lahey, Rowena Wise). Its late 90s/early 00s-esque video – directed by Brooke Painter (Heathers: The Musical, Urinetown) with a cameo from good friend Ruby Gill – captures the feeling of being completely energised and overtaken by the joyous-yet-jittery electromagnetism of a crush that just might be mutual, trying desperately not to be too obvious just in case – staying up all night, waiting around for that text, “living for the thrill“.

Speaking on the single, Merpire shares “”Leaving With You” is about those feelings you get around a crush when you have an inkling they feel the same way: the wonder if they’ll turn up to the party you’re at is both unnerving and exhilarating, you’re not sure if you’re hiding it well, nothing fills you with more energy than your crush being in your vicinity. You think about going home, you’re tired, but then they turn up and suddenly you could stay all night, living in this space where the probability between hooking up with them and not hooking up with them is equal.”

More about Merpire

Fluid and metaphysical as the tides, MILK POOL is for the romantics, the daydreamers, and those moving through intense periods of change – a dark-pop album punctuated by unconventional rhythms and chord choices, provocative guitar, moody synths and vivid imagery, its title representing “the murky fluidity of the action [she] took to create it”.

Written at a crossroads in Merpire‘s life where she felt called to make huge changes, including stepping away from her achievements as a founder of live music streaming series ISOL-AID during the pandemic – an effort she began to bolster the struggling artist community which featured 146+ artists including, Angie McMahon, Courtney Bartnett, Sarah Blasko etc – and from interpersonal relationships, MILK POOL was recorded at Melrose Place on Wurundjeri Country with production by Merpire, James Seymour (Pillow Queens, Elizabeth M. Drummond, Jacob Diamond), and contributions via James Dring (Nilüfer Yanya, Genesis Owusu, Porches) and Elizabeth M. Drummond, mixed by Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding, Perfume Genius). MILK POOL‘s themes – diving into the unknown, sexuality & pure crush, home in community, putting the final stitches over past traumas, restlessness, rediscovery of self and values – echo Merpire’s lived experiences, intentionally written to eddy & swirl in meaning depending on the listener – without ever losing her trademark sense of humour, buoyed by the human connection we share & a deep romanticism for people, places and how they inevitably change over time, featuring instrumentation via Merpire (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, synths, tambourine), James Seymour (backing vocals, piano, ukulele, electric guitars, bass, programmed drums, synths, percussion), James Dring (electric guitars, bass, drums, beats and percussion), Elizabeth M. Drummond (backing vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, programmed drums, synths, bass), Jess Ellwood (drums) & Jeremy Gara (drums, percussion) – the result of an artist reclaiming her body, her joy and her desire.

A self-described “child-like at heart” lover of daydreams, dogs and unconventional songwriting with over 1.3 million streams on Spotify alone, who counts the likes of Angie McMahon among her long-time supporters, Merpire‘s enthralling lyric-forward dark-pop draws from the familiar and the unknown in equal measures, with a filmic sense of whimsy and grit – sitting somewhere between the off-kilter cult favourites of romance, horror and comedy – underpinned by subtext profound enough to stop you in your tracks. The universe of Merpire – first glimpsed through her Endless Chatter EP (2018), expanded via her debut album Simulation Ride (2021) released via ADA to debut at #8 on the AIR Independent Label Album Charts with praise across her discography from triple j
across Mornings, Prism, Home & Hosed, Weekend Breakfast and beyond – BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders’ Future Artists, NPR, La Blogothèque, CLASH, NME, The Sunday Times, Sounds Australia, Line of Best Fit, Rolling Stone, frankie magazine, The Music, Music Feeds, Tone Deaf, The AU Review, Far Out Magazine, Backseat Mafia, Atwood Magazine, Ramona Magazine, Happy Magazine, Women In Pop, AAA Backstage, This Song Is Yours, Reverie AU, Steven Ray Morris‘ See Jurassic Right podcast, with MILK POOL‘s singles “Premonition“ and “Bigger“ collectively receiving adds at triple j Unearthed (“Bigger” featured as Track of the Day, remaining in Popular Tracks for over a fortnight), Double J (#31 Most Played this week peaking @ #13, featured 5 weeks in a row), rage, SYN, 2SER, Edge Radio, Radio Adelaide and major metro community radio support including feature album on Double J and SYN (Simulation Ride) and DSP playlisting with Spotify’s Tapestry, Fresh Finds AUNZ, sad indie girl sh*t, New Music Friday AUNZ, Mellow Days, Apple Music’s indie + chill, New in Indie and more – plunges into caverns and depths unexplored with MILK POOL.

Merpire‘s shows are described as an “emotional rollercoaster” – moving between intimate pop ballads and fully immersive alt-indie heart-shakers, made all the more engaging by her instinctive approach to guitar. Most recently performing a single launch for “Premonition” at Naarm’s The Tote & Brunswick Music Festival’s 3x-sold-out event At The Altar Of Us with Ruby Gill and Porpoise Spit, an intimate evening celebrating queer storytelling and songs at Brunswick Uniting Church – one of the first churches in so-called Australia to start accepting queer marriage – also appearing on stage at album launches of Ruby Gill & Bec Sykes and supporting Los Bitchos earlier this year, Merpire‘s mesmeric craft and stage presence has seen her support Julia Jacklin, Angie McMahon, Pillow Queens, Spacey Jane, Hockey Dad, James Bay and many more, boasting three UK & Ireland tours in as many years featuring a sold-out London headline show, a mammoth 2024 featuring three national tours with Fanning Dempsey National Park, Magic Dirt, Bombay Bicycle Club and more including slots at high-profile festivals like A festival called PANAMA, St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival (with RAT!hammock), Woodford Folk Festival, Bass in the Grass, mentorships with Andy Bull, Ainslie Wills and beyond.