LAPêCHE - “Mermaid Blues - V. 1”

Words by Zach Romano

The Look At My Records Song of the Week this week is “Mermaid Blues - V1” by Brooklyn favorites LAPÊCHE. As the title indicates, the track is an earlier version of “Mermaid Blues,” which the band released as a single last year. “Mermaid Blues – V1” isn’t radically different than its 2022 iteration, but it offers an interesting study in how a song can develop over time and how relatively small changes can affect the overall feel of a track – as well as a game of spot-the-difference. 

The mermaids on the cover of V1 are a photo negative of the ones on the cover of “Mermaid Blues”, but the two cuts are anything but inversions of each other. Both iterations share the same bones of muscular drums and bass and stellar guitar tone and production that underlie all of LAPÊCHE’s music. The biggest change here is the chorus: in the 2022 version of the track, singer Krista Diem stays restrained and within the verse’s relatively narrow vocal range, but on V1, she lets the pipes loose and is backed by an echo of male vocals.

It’s easy to think of songs as being birthed into the world fully formed, but as anyone who has been in a collaborative music project can tell you, that’s not the case at all. They evolve as they’re played, parts are negotiated, and disagreements about how this or that should sound are worked through and ultimately settled. It’s fun to imagine the conversations that led to the reworks here, and we’re lucky to be able to hear both versions of this great track. 

Stream the track below!

Look out for more LAPÊCHE soon; they’re currently working on their next album with Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Alex Newport (City & Colour, Death Cab For Cutie, At The Drive-In). Stay in the know by following them on Instagram. You can also listen to “Mermaid Blues V. 1” on Bandcamp + all streaming platforms.