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Nov 17, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Rosa Spring Voss

Alt pop singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Merryn Jeann debuted in 2019 with a debut self-titled “mini-LP,” introducing her dreamy songwriting and entrancing lyrical voice. Since then, Jeann returned with a collaborative album in 2021, Shade Under Your Hands, followed by a live EP in 2022, Live at Le Trabendo. This year, she’s been teasing her first official full-length album, DOG BEACH. She has already shared a surreal lead single, “NUN AT THE AIRPORT,” and today she’s back with the record’s second single, “ME B4 U,” along with an accompanying video, premiering with Under the Radar.

“ME B4 U” is a spacious alt pop effort, one that plays with both magnetic hooks and off-kilter aesthetics. The track opens on layers of breathy whispers before Jeann’s vocals take to the forefront, accompanied by drum machine rhythms and dotted bursts of guitar and bass. Jeann’s vocals recall the speak-singing of bands like Wet Leg, but when the blissful harmonies and playful handclaps hit with the chorus, the results feel more akin to indie pop acts like Tune-Yards or Dirty Projectors. The track’s lyrics find Jeann navigating the complexities of romance and self-love, singing “Slowly I’m getting older/Slowly I’m getting kinder too/With my soul and my body/I need to trust myself before I can trust you.” Meanwhile, the accompanying video was co-directed by Jeann herself and her niece, Eden Rain, who also features in the video.

Jeann says of the track, “It’s a song about understanding that one must surrender themself to one’s life before the ability of truly bringing someone in and feeling good around them too. I guess you can still really love someone even if you’re a bit rocky with yourself, as long as there’s self-reflection and the willingness to get to know yourself alongside them/the relationship. It’s also a coming-of-age song I’ve envisioned people listening to in the car, windows down and hands playing with the wind like in every indie love film ever.”

Check out the song and video below. DOG BEACH is out on February 23rd via Resuce + Return Records.