Mermaid Island Hit The “Panic Button” On New Single & Video

LA’s Mermaid Island have shared Panic Button, the track is the final single from their upcoming self titled album that is due out on June 12th digitally via No Dad Records and on vinyl through Anxious and Angry. The track is a slow-burning, folk-heavy ballad that explodes into an anthemic, powerful chorus, carrying the aggressive grit and biting lyricism that has made Mermaid Island a force in the LA underground. Their self-titled debut is cutting, fearless, brutally honest, and raw document from a band who built their presence on the stage before ever setting foot in a studio. They tracked most of the record live off the floor in two days, preserving the magnetic energy that defines their intimate and chaotic live shows. Blending high-energy punk rock with emotionally intelligent lyrics, east-coast Canadian fortitude, early 2000s pop-punk nostalgia, melodic vocals, and folk-tinged chord progressions. Mermaid Island tear through themes of self-destruction, alienation, nihilism, addiction, escapism, bodily autonomy, and feminine rage with the unapologetic urgency of a band with something to say.

“On the surface, this song is about being cryogenically frozen yet still conscious. Watching your loved ones grow old, wither away, and die without being able to communicate. At its core, it’s about fighting the painful realization of mortality and loss, and the desperate desire to connect. I’ve lost close friends that I think about every day and wish I could talk to. I feel like I’m constantly looking for a way to get a message through. Along with the finality of death comes this realization that all of the choices we make for our life along the way were permanent. This song almost didn’t make the record. I thought it was too slow and didn’t fit the band’s energy, but I was wrong. It turned out to be the emotional centerpiece, and it’s become a lot of people’s favorite song.” (singer Alex MacDonald)