Merpire - ‘MILK POOL’ Review: Turning the ‘difficult second album’ into something beautiful
This is supposed to be the difficult second album. But, on every listen, it becomes abundantly clear that Merpire has flipped this idea on its head, turning the challenge into something rather beautiful.
★★★★★★★★★☆
Credit: Rick Clifford 📸
The difficult second album. It’s been more than four years since Merpire’s debut, Simulation Ride, a record that introduced the world to an immersive, multi-instrumentalist ready to encapsulate the indie scene. In that time, she’s been reclaiming herself and penning every discovery in the process.
MILK POOL is an emotional rollercoaster, a culmination of lived experiences and ultimately the arrival at Merpire’s true self-expression. She dives into the unknown, battles sexuality and patches the final stitches over past trauma.
Yes - this is supposed to be the difficult second album. But, on every listen, it becomes abundantly clear that Merpire has flipped this idea on its head, turning the challenge into something rather beautiful, and ultimately her strongest work to date.
MILK POOL is for the romantics (Leaving With You), the daydreamers (Bigger), and those moving through intense periods of change (Rosanna).
The album kicks off with fuzzy guitars, a daring indie-rock track which sees the Melbourne artist follow in the footsteps of a flourishing community of female trailblazers. Leaving With You showcases Merpire’s vocals at their best, as she yearns for a lover. The same could be said of Premonition. Blending intricate guitars and spellbinding synths, the track glistens with indie-pop with layers you often struggle to find elsewhere.
Bigger keeps the momentum going as arguably the most impressive track on the album, a perfect blend of narrative and infectious melody. There are more distorted guitars, a fun riff and an ethereal feel from start to end. Bigger will, most definitely, be on the way to be her biggest track, and one played at festivals, no doubt.
Across the rest of the album, which features 11 tracks in total, we find ourselves dissociating to her storytelling on Rosanna, fig 8 and Cinnamon. The latter is going to pair nicely with a pumpkin-spiced latte when the first leaves of Autumn drift in. “It’s a hug in the kitchen”, she sings softly. These acoustic moments provide blissful breaks in the album to soak up every lyric, while still offering a melody you want to return to. In particular, piano-led Internet had us hooked, a ballad questioning our increasing overreliance on the digital world: “My algorithm is working this one out…hey, I’m sorry, I guess I won’t be needing you from now…”.
You’ll find many surprises too, particularly on Fishing and You Are Loved. The former is a rebellious dating anthem, describing the chaotic world of modern love through addictive dark-pop. Whereas, You Are Loved is entirely simplistic and was described as the saddest song she’s ever written in our recent interview. However, listen closely, and you’ll hear her friend’s cat popping to the toilet and scratching at her litter tray. That comical juxtaposition is what makes Merpire such an intriguing artist to follow.
“I love the closing track, ‘You Are Loved’, for its simplicity and its unintended sadness. Again with the juxtapositions - the act of writing that song in my friend’s lounge room was some of the freest writing I’ve ever done while feeling trapped in my own thoughts.” You can read the full interview here.
Citing influences Japanese Breakfast, Porches, Mitski and Steve Lacy, Merpire is unifying the world of soft indie-pop with a dark twist. Every track is meticulously considered, bursting with layers and rewarding repeat listens. For such an emotionally charged record, her take on subjects like romance, self-love, and trauma is utterly beautiful. It may have taken four years, but that gap is, clearly, now a sign of strength.
MILK POOL is a perfect example of battling second album challenges and instead looking inwards towards something bigger, and the result is outstanding. This is an immersive album worth your time, and one to spotlight in a very crowded scene.
Now, it’s your turn. Give it a spin, and tell us what you think on Insta or X.
Rating: 9/10
Thank you for reading, why not stick around? 🖤
