The 12 tracks which make up Mere Women's 3rd album Big Skies explore themes of women’s experiences over generations, and the simultaneous isolation and confinement felt by many women living in regional communities. From the delicately layered opener ‘Eternally’, to the almost operatic, key-driven ‘Curse’ – a track which could serve partly as an interlude, whilst creating the perfect precursor from where to launch into ‘Drive’ – and stunning album closer ‘Wanderer’, the tracks express feelings of being penned in, chained to family responsibilities and being unable to break away from tradition.
The songs are haunting, restless and impeccably composed. A claustrophobic journey through wide open spaces.
Mere Women have continually explored new structures in greater depth with a collaborative writing process, with the aim to find new ways of expressing and writing popular music through post-punk. They work to actively break barriers and predictable, unimaginative musical structures that reinforce the status quo of male-dominated popular music.
Big Skies was largely written at Black Wire Records in Annandale, a record store and DIY music space that was recently shut down after thriving in the music community for 7+ years, and recorded at One Flight Up, a small studio tucked away in a converted warehouse in St Peters, with Tim Carr, who worked with Mere Women on their previous two albums. All instruments were recorded live to capture their hypnotic and dark ‘live show’ energy.
Listen back to Mixing Up the Medicine for a live set from Mere Women. Studio 5 Live is proudly brought to you by Mountain Goat.
