Progressive pop singer-songwriter Alice Merton released new single and music video "Vertigo" on April 9.
"'Vertigo' was the first song I had written, where I thought 'OK, now I'm actually writing for the next album,'” Merton told Rolling Stone. “For the first time in a while, I felt excited to have written a song that I couldn't wait to perform live. It basically came about after Koz and I had talked about what it's like living in Berlin, the very different club scene, and my anxiety when it came to going out and being in big crowds and small spaces. I casually described a club night, where I felt out of place, and the feeling of vertigo took over. We both felt it would be fun to play around with this idea and create a dark atmosphere, supported by a driving rhythm and an almost hypnotic guitar riff."
"Vertigo" is upbeat and attention-getting with its dark, mesmerizing guitar leads and vocal melodies. The music video is artfully twisted, a full film in just three minutes and seven seconds. Merton races through an alternate world, immersed in a haunting color palette of orange and pale blue hues. The industrial dystopian set and costumes match the high energy of the song perfectly.
Merton shared in a Q&A with Riff Magazine that "I was inspired visually by movies such as 'Blade Runner' and 'Mad Max.' I wanted to create a dystopian world that I didn’t feel I belonged in, and almost felt like I was an intruder, not realizing if what I’m seeing is real or not."
Listen to "Vertigo" below and let us know what you think.