Adding a “dreamy” element to New Zealand band Marlin’s Dreaming, the gently smoldering single “Hello My Dear” offers a soul-stirring meditation on home and change, time and place.
Stream: “Hello My Dear” – Marlin’s Dreaming
After moving to Oakland, I wanted to document the impact that where I live has on me.
Maarlin’s Dreaming opens the latest single with a mournful greeting.
“Hello,” sings frontman Semisi Maiai, his pained voice ringing hot through the mic as the guitar fills the air around him with gentle tones.I bet he couldn’t think of anything.. It’s been a long time.“The words came easily from his mouth to our ears, It feels intimate, up close and personal, but obviously warm Welcome. Deep thoughts turn to intense emotion, stirring Ma’ia’i’s soul and tugging at our heartstrings in turn, as Ma’ia’i and his bandmates envelop the audience in a blanket of emotional sound and heated reflection.
While we don’t realize we are changing, the world around us is changing rapidly. Some places, like cozy small towns, never stop changing, while big cities change in the blink of an eye. Entire neighborhoods may develop new personalities in the blink of an eye, while your childhood bedroom may remain the same forever, a childhood still taking its first steps and looking forward to what lies ahead.Hello my love” is a soul-stirring meditation on home and change, time and place. The New Zealand band paints a soft, smoldering world of sound, diving headfirst into it and transporting the listener to a moment of cathartic contemplation.
Life is long and full of change, and finding comfort in that change is a skill we must continually relearn, just as our ancestors were constantly adapting to their surroundings.
Hello my love
I bet he couldn’t think of anything.
It’s been a long time.
Hello my love
I’ve been overlooked
It’s a world I don’t know anymore
I will fly away
To a different place than usual
I’ll try to hide
I am hopelessly lost
Atwood Magazine is proud to premiere “Hello My Dear,” the second single from Marlin’s Dreaming’s fourth LP. Hill (Ditto Music, August 16, 2024). Following this May’s lead single “Earnestly” (featuring Māori singer-songwriter Ernie Bell), “Hello My Dear” is a cinematic, provocative and all-consuming reverie. Comprised of Semisi Maiai (vocals & guitar), Oscar Johns (bass), Hamish Morgan (drums) and Des Stevens (guitar), Marlins Dreaming have been prominent players in the global indie pop scene for many years, and their latest single is proof that their inner fire is burning brighter than ever.
When it is released later this year, Hill This will be Marlins Dreaming’s first studio album in three years (2021’s hurry up); the band see the new record as one of change, of inner (and outer) transformation, tracing both their personal growth and their own physical movement from their hometown of Dunedin to New Zealand’s bustling capital, Auckland.
“In a way, this song and album is a full circle moment for us,” says Semisi Mai’i. Atwood Magazine“We left the more angular guitar aesthetic out the door and brought in a fuller, more advanced sound that we introduced at the start. Lizard Tears I moved to Dunedin in 2017. Dunedin will always be my home, but staying in one place for so long can feel tedious. After moving to Auckland, I wanted to capture the impact that the place I live in has on me.”
“Some of the songs on the album harken back to our time in Dunedin, when we were all living and writing together, but we started to realise that a lot of the songs we had didn’t fit the kind of upbeat, fun pop album we wanted to write.”
“Hello My Dear” deals with movement and change through an investigative lens, as the narrator feels off-balance, yearning for a sense of belonging in a space that feels familiar yet foreign at the same time.
Invaded
Into an unknown world
Ah, that’s for sure.
Hello my love
Your face didn’t appear
I mainly think about myself
The narrator may feel uncomfortable, but Make an effort Finding new peace – “Hello My Dear” is the ultimate feel-good song. Marlin’s Dreaming is alive with raw passion and musical fire, creating songs that resonate powerfully in the ears and the hearts, and will stay with you forever. The band’s new song and music video are available at Atwood MagazineAnd ask yourself: What does it mean to find peace in change? Can we breathe peacefully when everything is constantly changing?
Marlin’s Dreaming’s highly anticipated fourth LP, “HIRL,” will be released on August 16th, 2024 via Ditto Music.
I will fly away
To a different place than usual
And I try to hide
I am hopelessly lost
I will fly away
To a different place than usual
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:: Stream/Purchase Hello my love here ::
:: Connecting Merlin’s Dream here ::
Stream: “Hello My Dear” – Marlin’s Dreaming
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© Chris Mauger
