MEROL - To the Sharks & Back Again

MEROL GOES TO THE SHARKS & BACK ON HER NEW ALBUM

“Everything has to be broken. I break myself into pieces. I'll pick it up again later.” It sounds tough and determined on the song LESGOOOOO from Merol's second album, called Naar De Haaien & Weer Terug. Her message is clear: there will be dancing and party, even if she herself is destroyed by it. Merol takes you to the basement of her soul, the backstage of life, exposes the destructiveness of man and leaves nothing and no one intact.

“With 'Troostprijs' (debut album, 2022) I had set myself the goal of making a real pop album. With 'Naar De Haaien & Weer Terug' the goal was: to make a real MEROL album, I wanted to go back to the Do It Yourself capriciousness and craziness of my first songs that I produced myself on Garageband.” says the artist. “When I started making music, I did everything open-mindedly and intuitively. As I got to know the music world better and better, I started to feel the pressure of a hit and the pressure to appeal to a wider audience. As a result, I sometimes lost some of my individuality and theatricality. For this album, I took full control again, came up with a concept and let myself be free, without conforming. This album is the result of shit and fun. And therefore even more vulnerable and personal than my previous work.”

She worked with producers Didier de Ruyter, Koen van de Wardt, Wieteke Wijte, Angel Janson and the Flemish Compact Disk Dummies. The result: raw, unpolished electropop with influences from techno, house, italo and hyperpop.