Mermaid Chunky are an unusual duo of visual artists and musicians from Stroud and South London, consisting of the like minded Freya Tate (vocals, electronics, drum machine, synth) and Moina Moin (vocals, saxophone, recorder, percussion) and together they really seem to click! Click in a way similar to the likes of Let’s Eat Grandma and audiobooks, whereby they plough their own furrows within the music industry and hypnotically draw you into their mysterious worlds.
Mermaid Chunky set out their stall back in November 2020 with the release of their debut long-player titled ‘VEST’ which contained seven tunes of vastly differing lengths and styles. The second Covid lockdown was enforced around this time, but the world began slowing opening up from April 2021 and by October of that year they had intrigued concert goers in Manchester and Liverpool. In June 2022 they played a couple of support dates for LCD Soundsystem at Brixton Academy and went on to play the ‘Wilderness’ festival in the August. A number of live performances were to follow throughout last year including one here in Brighton as support to the aforementioned audiobooks. This took place at Patterns on 8th June and we were there! This year, folk at Glastonbury might have been lucky to have caught their live set on 28th June.
In May Mermaid Chunky dropped their ‘Céilí’ single which is named after a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering and dance, which builds from a simple recorder line into a swelling, warm burst of major chord dance music. This tune being a taster of what is to come, as on 13th September the duo will be releasing their second album. This is titled ‘slif slaf slof’ and contains nine new tunes. In support of this new release Freya and Moina have announced that they will be playing Brighton’s Green Door Store on Thursday 26th September, courtesy of Love Thy Neighbour promoters. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased from HERE and HERE.
In order to whet your appetite, here is our account of their 8th June 2023 concert at Patterns…..
With a 7:20pm start, it was inevitable that folk were continually arriving throughout the Mermaid Chunky set and I suspect many of whom were wondering what exactly had hit them! In reference to my analogy (above) regarding the audiobooks mentality and ploughing their own furrow, Freya and Moina also very much fit into this mold. An example of this being the fact that they only performed a handful of songs within their allotted time, and the last of those, a sub two minute ditty was tagged on to the end of the set, as the punters wanted more and the kind sound guy gave in, when Freya pointed out that they have a song that is only a minute long. It was about double that, but we weren’t bothered!
“So what happened before this final number I hear you ask?”. OK here goes….
They graced the stage in historical looking dresses, those which are currently being made fashionable again by The Last Dinner Party, Lime Garden and Wet Leg. Not ‘Holly Hobbie’ style but more ‘Picnic At Hanging Rock’ if you catch my drift. If only Jordan was still with us, then she would tell me exactly what they are!
The instruments of choice were as far ranging as their ‘out there’ set allowed, hence with the normal synth, saxophone and tambourine, there was also recorders (that young kids used to play when I was at school) as well as a swanee whistle, which many folk of a certain age will associate as the voices of ‘The Clangers’. Also on offer was a VTech Little Smart Phonics A to Z Learning The Alphabet Toy and even some chattering wind up teeth! Throughout their 30 minute set, they were lit by their specially made experimental films that were being projected on the rear wall of the stage.
Their first two songs I believe are thus far unreleased and go by the titles of ‘Improv’ and ‘Cèilidh’ (a traditional Scottish or Irish social gathering). They had set out their stall, so to speak. The initial crowd sniggering of the first few seconds, suddenly switched to intrigue and absorption and the wonder of where the girls are going next with this. Loops were very much the order of the day and layers of sound were built atop each other, which was clever stuff. No wonder audiobooks had them as support on all six concert dates. The remaining two tunes ‘These Girls’ and ‘Newbury Bypass’ were both culled from their ‘VEST’ album, which dropped two years back.
It’s funny because on the way to the gig, I played the 1979 12” version of ‘Money’ by The Flying Lizards, a song that was (and arguably) still is out there! Especially Deborah Evans-Stickland’s very British vocal delivery, which is very much like Evangeline’s as well. Clearly this had unknowingly got my brain in the zone for both of tonight’s acts.
Mermaid Chunky, I thought to myself, are ‘Folktronica’, a genre that I thought I had conjured up during their performance. I hadn’t! It exists already! So I will elaborate further. To my ears, I heard elements of another young female duo, Let’s Eat Grandma, especially with recorder parts, although unlike them Moina occasionally burst out laughing whilst playing. Then there were the quiet parts, which reminded me of the 1970 ‘Beat Club’ performances by Kraftwerk. It even veered to a poetry reading as Moina read passages/lyrics from her mobile phone to accompanying keys from Freya.
It was an unpredictable transfixing set, filled with an edgy vibe of improvisation and carefully laid out patterns, rhythms, loops and karate chopped keys. Put it this way, if Delia Derbyshire was still with us today, she would be Mermaid Chunky’s number one fan!
Mermaid Chunky can be found on Bandcamp.
Mermaid Chunky:
Freya Tate – vocals, electronics, drum machine, synth
Moina Moin – vocals, saxophone, recorder, percussion
Mermaid Chunky setlist:
‘Improv’ (unreleased)
‘Cèilidh’ (unreleased)
‘These Girls’ (from 2020 ‘VEST’ album)
‘Newbury Bypass’ (from 2020 ‘VEST’ album)
