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Jul 14, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Paul King

Fans last heard from Charleston-based outfit SUSTO with their 2021 record, Time In The Sun, which brought the band’s hazy combination of rock, country, folk, and psychedelia to New West Records. Since then, frontman Justin Osborne has been weathering a series of personal seismic shifts, including a divorce, family addiction, and the challenging process of rebuilding the band following the pandemic. The band reflects on those highs and lows throughout their latest full-length record, My Entire Life, due out on July 28th.

They returned earlier this year with the record’s lead single and title track, followed by another new single, “Hyperbolic Jesus,” last month. Today, the band are back with their latest effort, “Mermaid Vampire,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Mermaid Vampire” finds the band leaning into a harder rock aesthetic, hinting towards influences like The Black Keys or Queens of the Stone Age. Though they work a sharply-written chorus and pounding rhythms into the mix, the track draws most of its force from the band’s searing riffs and sun-burnt psych guitars. Meanwhile, the band matches the track’s blistering tone with some lovestruck lyricism, capturing the feeling of complete and total infatuation: “That girl is a vampire / Got me in my heart / And set my brain on fire / Deep blue like a mermaid / I wanna swim to the bottom / And chase you around.”

Osborne says of the track, “‘Mermaid Vampire’ is about meeting someone and becoming totally consumed by desire. The lyrical visual is loosely inspired by Isabella Rossellini’s book/short film(s) “Green Porno,” but the story is based on true events. It’s about falling hard and fast and getting totally wrapped up in that feeling. It’s a primal and animalistic force, like a volcano erupting under the ocean and breaking through to the surface.”

Check out the song and accompanying video below. My Entire Life is due out everywhere on July 28th via New West Records. Pre-order the record here.