Mal de Mer Mirage

Potent Perth collective Mal de Mer have released a brand new single Mirage, a slinky, funked-up fantasy that'll tap shoes far and wide. Alongside the bustling frivolity of the new tune, Mal de Mer have also announced an accompanying video for Mirage, with both the song and video marking the final alluring glimpse into the group's brand new EP Sanguine which will officially drop on July 8 and is available to presave now.

Mirage continues Mal de Mer's penchant for defying genres and expectations, with atomic glimmer and grooving shimmer pulsing through the veins of the brand new track. Inspired by the likes of Parcels, Anderson .Paak and Lil Nas X, Mirage is permeated by jangly keys, wiry basslines, bright guitars and sun-soaked melodics alongside the striking stylings of vocalist Saskia Fleming. Brandishing a bittersweet narrative beneath infectious instrumentals, Mirage diverges slightly from the six-piece's earlier funk roots, embracing lashings of electronic pop amongst their trademark wiles, while also acting as a must-have anthem to blast in your car (windows down) after a bad day or that breakup.

And while Mirage acts as the final peek into the impending EP, Sanguine, the song's origin story stems from an extremely quick creation, as drummer James Marelich explains, "It's always a great feeling finishing music and finally releasing it, but this one feels especially surreal as we only wrote it a couple of months ago! Watching it transform from an idea into a full-fledged piece of music so quickly has been awesome". And elaborating on the track's fantastical moniker and thematics, vocalist Saskia says, "Mirage is a nonchalant narration of leaving someone that you should have left a long time ago. To me, this song feels like a shower argument – you get to speak your truth, uninterrupted, and finally put that person in their place".

Working with long-time Mal De Mer visual collaborator Sarah Gelmi on the video for Mirage, the resulting filmclip is a comical ode to farewelling a lousy relationship. Expanding on the visual inspiration behind the video, Saskia says, "The video is a satirical send up of leaving a crappy relationship - it taps into the joy of moving on and looking back with relief."

Mal de Mer teamed up with Broderick Madden-Scott on mixing and producing duties, and Joe Carra on mastering for their upcoming sophomore EP Sanguine. Set for release July 8, the group are poised to truly encapsulate the buoyant and transformative notions of the EP's moniker, as Saskia adds, "Sanguine as a body of work follows the disorienting journey out of a toxic situation, and the metamorphosis that takes place afterwards. I reckon the theme of Sanguine is best encapsulated by the definition of its title: optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation".

Can you please share your top 5 emerging artists out of WA?

Hey Female! We're Mal de Mer, a band from Perth making funk pop songs! We just released our new single Mirage which is a breakup track that's basically about tuning in to your gut instincts and following them. It's the last single from our sophomore EP Sanguine which will be out in the world next month! Sanguine is a collection of songs that we all collaborated on over the course of this year and last. As a body of work, it is a good reflection of our genre-defying approach to songwriting - every track is very different to the last. Lyrically, the EP follows the disorienting journey out of a toxic relationship, the ups, the downs and everything in between!

1: Glimmer are a young five-piece indie-folk band. Their singer, Henry Seah, has such a heartbreakingly sweet voice and acoustic guitar playing that bleeds perfectly into full band moments. You can see when they play live how much the band members love to play together. They've released a single, 'My body,' which is beautiful and really worth a listen.

2: Grace Sanders is the collaboration of herself and producer Ezekiel Padmanabham. Their new electronic sound is hard hitting and so fun to watch live in particular. Performing mostly as a duo, Grace always gives it 100 and is sure to pull an amazing outfit and Ezekiel keeps it cool behind his laptop. Grace's recent single Anymore is so so cool… the chorus…Headbanging!

3: Great Statue is the passion project of Annika Moses, and boy, do we have passion towards this act. Annika is the 'Great Statue' on stage singing with a slicked back mullet and tiny sunglasses to her electronic tracks commanding everyone's attention. She has such danceable, fun tracks and an intoxicating presence. With nothing released online yet, Great Statue is a live act not to be missed.

4: Anna Schneider is a singer/songwriter blending pop/folk/indie perfectly. Her floating, effortless vocals and candid songwriting is so so captivating. Both Schneider's solo and band appearances, backed by Cass Evans-Ocharern, Jay Cernohorsky and Riley Brewer, are always a beautiful escape and will leave your jaw on the floor. Her latest single "Gaslight" is a great mix of sweet instrumentals and hard-hitting lyricism.

5: Mia June is an amazing indie folk/rock songwriter and singer. The tone of her voice is stunning and backed by a tight band she is really one to watch. Mia recently released her first single 'Fish in a Bowl' and has beautiful unreleased songs up her sleeve at live gigs.