Gold Coast’s fresh-faced addictive grunge-rock duo Mermaid Waters has made a bold entrance with their heaving, fuzz-bathed debut single, ‘Royalty’.
Combining the talents of multi-instrumentalist friends Lachlan McKay and Liam Chapman, ‘Royalty’ is a foreboding guitar-driven anthem that demonstrates the adept musicality of the group, sounding entirely bigger than their sum.
Serving up a genre-mashing aural treat, ‘Royalty’ captures you right from the start with its foot thudding percussion, low pitch, dark tone and distinguishable fuzz.
Tying together grunge, rock and indie stylings to create dark, grungy energy, Mermaid Waters expertly draws from a melting pot of the band’s influences. From the likes of The Amity Affliction, Linkin Park and Nirvana, to Lil Peep, Post Malone, The Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against The Machine and Yungblud, the duo defies genre while remaining catchy and easily accessible.
With an expansive musical palette, Mermaid Waters has crafted a punchy, soaring epic, driven by a sizzling riff that is just as aggressive as it is catchy and punctuated by Liam’s unapologetic vocals that leave an earthquake-like resonance.
Taking cues from the likes of Breaking Benjamin, these vocals match the heaviness of the instruments throughout the track, incorporating the dark tone through the lyrics which depicts the inner battle of trying to break free from unhealthy, yet magnetic relationships.
“I guess growing up as a quiet kid I had never learnt to stand up for myself and always lived with a “Just-deal-with-it” attitude. In the long run, this led to people walking over me or using me which led to guilt trips and people claiming how much respect they’re entitled to because of their roles in my life,” Liam reveals.
“Whenever I would try to get someone I believe to be toxic out of my life, they’d always try to keep me in theirs, almost like they’re trying to have control of what I do. Hence the chorus “get off your knees and please don’t beg me to stay, everyone wants to be royalty.”
Keep up with the latest music news via our website.
Unpacking the addictive nature of a toxic and abusive relationship, ‘Royalty’ goes beyond romantic relationships, and instead encompasses the toxic nature in friendships, dysfunctional households, workplaces and just the overall reality of just questioning your loyalty to someone, resulting in an incredibly thought-provoking and poignant debut.
“It feels empowering to speak up about these kinds of issues. I never had the strength to stand up for myself but I’ve always idolised those who stand up for others. The response from the public has been overwhelming and we couldn’t have come this far without the support from our friends and families.”
Demonstrating Mermaid Water’s natural ability to draw you into aural captivation, you’re very much treated to a rollercoaster of emotion as you listen to the narrative of the lyrics unfold.
Bursting onto the scene with such candid lyrical honesty and ability to spill visceral passion into their music is a defining effort, especially from a band that only came to fruition early this year, spawned from musical chemistry and a desire to see what could come of it.
“Lachlan and I have been acquainted since 2016 and we occasionally found ourselves bumping into each other at gigs. After sharing a stage more than a few times for tribute shows such as Blink-182 and Paramore – I felt like he and I just had great on stage and off-stage chemistry,” Liam reveals.
“After a while, I had proposed the idea to Lachlan on starting a small side project and sent him a few demos. He was eager to see where this would lead and after a few days he sent me a few guitar tracks for the demos and that’s when I knew he was the guy for the job.
“Since then, we’ve both bounced off each other’s ideas and are totally supportive of each other.”
Having honed in on their talents as session musicians for various acts over the years, ‘Royalty’ is just the beginning of the hopeful new chapter for the duo, having already begun crafting their next two singles which promise a giant canvas of grunge-rock songwriting that wears its heart on its sleeve.
“Our second single is definitely going to be more aggressive than Royalty and it’ll be taking more influence from the Nu-Metal era of rock,” Liam explains.
“Our third single is going to be a bit lighter in sound but tells a story of my experience of being manipulated multiple times while in a relationship.
“We touch on some heavy subjects but we’re not afraid to say what we think. I believe I’ll probably burn some bridges but I can’t keep running from fearing what others think of me.
A slow-burning yet heavy-hitting debut, Mermaid Waters deliver something brilliant that carries with it the promise of great things in the not-so-distant future.
Mermaid Waters’ debut single ‘Royalty’ is out now. Check it out below.
