Alice Merton is back with her new single 'Hero' and B-side 'Island'.

Right from the go, Hero has an attention grabbing, striking sonic hook which could catch you off guard at first. The song then progresses into an interesting mix of concepts, and has already been described as something between the dark side of Halsey’s angsty modern pop and the electro-tinged alt-rock of Garbage. The song is rich in character, and expresses a deep personal message.

About the song, Alice explained:

“Everything I felt in the last year was summed up in the first two sentences of the song,” says Alice. “It’s about the conflict of wanting something so bad, but realizing you just don't have the strength to fight for it anymore. It talks about the discrepancy of wanting to be someone’s everything, and at the same time wishing they meant nothing to you.”

In contrast to Hero, the B-side Island offers more of a smoother sound. Both tracks are set to seek common ground offering different takes on hope.

“‘Island’ acknowledges the struggle and desire to survive together, while ‘Hero’ calls a ceasefire and waves a flag to announce its surrender.” 

The song was produced by Alice and Jonny Coffer, who's known for his work with Ellie Goulding, Beyonce and Jess Glynne.

Alice Merton has already reached a number of top #10 chart positions across Europe. In addition, she has amassed an impressive 650 million streams to date. Style wise, the power of her voice has been mentioned amongst greats such as Adele, and Florence Welch. Known for her work as a coach on The Voice Germany, Alice is now tapping into a huge global pop audience, and she has plenty of appeal. 

Having returned to touring with a selection of outdoor shows in Germany, Alice’s two new songs preview more new music to come as 2021 unfolds. Born in Frankfurt, and raised between Germany, the USA, England and Canada, Alice Merton released her debut album ‘MINT’ in 2019, as well as its deluxe edition ‘MINT +4’ later that year. Complementing her international success with early UK support from Radio 1, Alice has also collaborated with the likes of Tom Odell, AWOLNATION, and the Grammy-winning producer Koz (Dua Lipa).

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Author: Andrew Braithwaite

Andrew is the founder and Managing Director of Music Talkers. He's also a keen music enthusiast and plays the guitar.