Here's our cover of 'Blues run the game', originally by the American Singer-Songwriter Jackson C. Frank

This song has been covered by some of our favourite musicians, including Laura Marling and Simon & Garfunkel, and is really special to us so we hope you enjoy !

https://www.facebook.com/wearethemermaidcafe/

blues run the game

recorded as live over several sessions in a diy home studio setup // 

new devised music, improvisations (free + from graphic and text scores) //

Joanna Ward (vocals, bass guitar, pre-recorded sound)
Ruari Paterson-Achenbach (vocals, guitar, pre-recorded sound, glockenspiel)

improv // northern soul live mix

ALL GONE

FOLK SONGS

improv // guitar + bass

A SIDEWAYS KNOWING GLANCE

Sideways Knowing Glance is the debut single from London based experimental pop duo the mermaid café, out on the 10th of July 2020.

The track emerged from improvisation and experimentation using voices with loop pedals; through collaborative development, it’s grown into a 10 minute dream-pop cloud of honeyed vocals, rich and complex textures, glitchy synthesis, and intricate, intimate storytelling.

Whilst the song has been in gestation for a long time, this release was predominantly recorded and mixed whilst in lockdown in Newcastle. Whilst remaining honest to the mermaid cafe’s roots in DIY and intuitive music making, this single represents a turn towards pristine post-production shimmer in their sound.

This release is the culmination of two years of the mermaid café performing, writing, and improvising together, developing their songwriting practice. the mermaid café represents exciting, fresh collaborative thinking, bringing together many layers of artistic influence: both Ruari and Joanna do work ranging across songwriting, experimental and contemporary classical composition, multi-instrumental and vocal performance, research, activism, and visual art. Joanna is currently studying Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and Ruari is working as a freelance musician and writer.

This track was mastered by Jeremy Warmsley, and the group has worked with graphic designer Emily Tonkinson-Sharp to develop the cover art and merch for this release.

All music & mixing by the mermaid café
Lyrics by Ruari Paterson-Achenbach
Master by Jeremy Warmsley
Artwork by Emily Tonkinson-Sharp

Sideways Knowing Glance

We are very happy to be sharing this previously unheard recording from our collection. Back when live gigs could go ahead and rooms could be densely populated, we did a gig in February at the Heong Gallery in Cambridge. Responding to Barbara Hepworth's 'Divided Circle' exhibition, we presented a fluid set of free vocal improvisation, scatterings of poetry, modular synthesiser and northern soul tunes. We hope it provides some much needed mellowness during this crisis of coronavirus and capitalism. TMC xx

TMC / Barbara Hepworth / Heong Gallery 01.02.2020

the mermaid café is a pop / ambient / experimental singing, instrument-playing, electronics-using duo.

we are a political group: thinking about queering and decolonising creative practice is at the core of what we do.

we write and devise original music, we improvise, we do research and activism and we collaborate with other creatives across disciplines.

@joannamward + @ruari-paterson-achenbach

follow us on bandcamp --> https://themermaidcafe.bandcamp.com/follow_me

the mermaid café

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