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Music

Take a Time Out and Listen to "Hang", Merk's Lazy New Psych-Pop Track

We're premiering the Auckland artist's blissful new introvert anthem, and its Parallel Teeth-directed video.

There are plenty of anthems about spending time alone—Kevin Parker wrote two damn albums full of them—but there's a lot less music about that very specific joy of spending time with someone in silence; not awkwardly, but blissfully. Luckily, Auckland producer and songwriter Merk—real name Mark Perkins—is coming through to fill that gap in the market. Merk's new single "Hang", which we're premiering today, is a lazy-day ode to chilling with someone without feeling pressure to make small talk or do anything in particular. "You can hang with me/ We don't have to speak" is the song's hook, and it feels like a mantra for a certain type of social introvert. The song still references psych-pop, as on Merk's debut Swordfish, but the song feels denser, more closed off—a sunny anthem for days spent inside.

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The video for "Hang" is directed by Parallel Teeth, who Merk previously worked with on the video for Swordfish single "I'm Easy". Parallel Teeth's illustrations (above, in .gif form) animate Merk's world and add a surreal, brightly-toned twist to the music video, which features Merk standing around in beautiful, scenic Aotearoa. Watch "Hang" below:

Find Merk on Facebook and Instagram.