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New Album: Mermaidens

We caught up with Lily from Mermaidens for a chat about their album ‘Look Me in the Eye’, up for the The Taite Music Prize 2020, which streams live tonight.

When/where was the new album recorded?
Look Me in the Eye was recorded at Blue Barn Studios in Newtown over a few months in 2018. The studio is now gone but the studios’ magic man, James Goldsmith, who recorded the album is still out there helping to put out brilliant NZ records.

Who produced/engineered the album? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
James Goldsmith engineered the album. This is the third record we’ve done with him and we wanted to make some big leaps in terms of the engineering. He’s a whizz with the gadgets and we all went into recording with the intention of creating a very rich sonic world. Some of the songs were only half baked when we went into the studio and it was great to produce and finesse them as a team.

How did the songwriting happen? Are there any overall themes within the songs/album?
Our normal process involves a lot of jamming as a group but most these songs were initiated by Gus or I hashing them out as demos at home. Once we started bringing the songs together as a group we realised we’d been writing about similar things. With the confidence that’s come with so much songwriting, we started to explore bigger ideas of power, being heard, but still with a recurring theme of intimacy.

Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
There were so many modulation pedals used during recording, at one point we decided we had to make our own. Enter, the Moon Cycle pedal. Engineered by the endlessly talented Emerald Rose (Linen) we made the kookiest chorus pedal we’ve heard.

Is there a physical copy available? If not which digital platforms is it available on?
Get it! There are records and CDs kicking around out there. Support your local record stores. Or head to our Bandcamp to get one via Flying Out.

Are you working on a video/videos for any of the songs?
We’ve got the best music video I’ve ever seen tucked under our belts, awaiting release, keep your eyes PEELED. That’s all I’ll say on the matter…


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