Vera Blue releases new single 'Mermaid Avenue'
Image: Jason Henley
Australian favourite Vera Blue today releases her new single ‘Mermaid Avenue’, the second release from her second album Mercurial which is available to pre-order from today.
‘Mermaid Avenue’ is a glistening electropop ballad which looks back on a broken relationship with the realisation all the dreams you had for the partnership will never come true. A gentle piano opens the song to be soon joined by a pulsing electronic beat before breaking into the chorus with Blue’s vocal’s multitracked to give the effect of angelic choir. Distorted vocals and frantic beats make an appearance before the soundscape is pared back again to piano and Blue’s now ghostly vocals as the song, and the relationship, ends.
“‘Mermaid Avenue’ is a song about a love that didn’t work out,” Vera Blue says. “The bitter-sweet emotions that come with all the fond memories of the relationship but the heartbreak of a dream that will never happen. Mermaid Avenue is a beautiful street in South Coogee in Sydney with enormous beach houses overlooking the ocean. I find myself there on walks at sunset admiring the architecture and views. I feel that Mermaid Avenue can also a metaphor for a place where everything is perfect, full of adventure and love. Or a dream you create of the future, a beautiful life with someone.”
‘Mermaid Avenue’ is the second single to be released from Vera Blue’s second album Mercurial which is due to be released on October 28th. The follow up to her smash hit debut album, 2017’s Perennial, Blue started the album in 2018 but after facing writers block, diagnoses of both depression and anxiety and the pandemic, the album was continually pushed back. It has been worth the wait and sees Blue embrace an 1980s synthpop soundscape across the album, along with heartfelt ballads with songs that explore her mental health struggles, learning to trust and fall in love again and the unique problems that you go through in your mid-twenties as you try to find your feet as an adult.
The album is undoubtedly a career highlight for Vera Blue, heavy, introspective and challenging at times but also full of joy, love and danceable beats. It is a worthy follow up to the remarkable Perennial.
Vera Blue will be touring the album across Australia in November and December, as well as supporting Flume on two dates of his Palaces World Tour, tickets on sale now.
One of Australia’s most talented and unique artists ever since she first released music in 2013, Vera Blue creates music that excites, inspires and never disappoints, and Mercurial is no exception. Five years after her last album, this is a new era of Vera Blue and it is undoubtedly her best yet.
‘Mermaid Avenue’ is out now via Island Records. You can download and stream here.
Mercurial will be released on October 28 via Island Records. You can pre-order and pre-save here.
To keep up with all things Vera Blue you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Vera Blue National Album Tour
3 November - Miami Marketta - Gold Coast, QLD
4 November - Fortitude Music Hall - Brisbane, QLD
5 November - Civic Theatre - Newcastle, NSW
11 November - Costa Hall - Geelong, VIC
12 November - Forum Theatre - Melbourne, VIC
8 December - Ice Cream Factory - Perth, WA
17 December - Enmore Theatre - Newtown, NSW
Supporting Flume on his Palaces World Tour
November 30 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre – Adelaide
December 2 - Regatta Grounds – Hobart
