Today sees 20-year old Mhairi share her debut track ‘Crystalline’ – a pulsating, futuristic, and disarmingly dark first offering.  It premiered over on The Line Of Best Fit – where it was also Song Of The Day, and can also now be streamed over on The 405, Wonderland Magazine, Indie Shuffle, All Things Go, Clash, Hillydilly, and below.

Spanning genres, with influences include Massive Attack, Peter Gabriel, and Imogen Heap, as an introduction ‘Crystalline’ shows that Mhairi is here to take some risks. Thick, warbling electronics open the track, with Mhairi’s icy vocal lines weaving around glitchy, stuttering instrumentals.

Operating in the folk/acoustic realm during her early growth as an artist, it was towards the end of her time in school, where Mhairi McDonald’s interest in other artists began to develop, shifting towards a more expansive soundscape, with albums from Volcano Choir, Kate Bush, and Sigur Ros becoming pivotal in her songwriting.

It’s hard to really tag Mhairi and ‘Crystalline’ down with one genre. Breathy, synth-heavy R&B could be one way of describing the feel to its delivery, but there’s certainly elements of pop in its melodic structure. However, the depth and intricacy of the production on display here, blurring the lines between alternative electronic music and heady R&B, no doubt separates Mhairi from her peers, with her lyrical introspection providing further layers of intrigue.

Going into a little more detail about the lyrical meaning behind ‘Crystalline’, Mhairi has said: “‘Crystalline’ explores the feeling of being lost inside your own mind, and how introversion can be a detriment to your sense of self and the relationships you have. The lyrics follow an internal dialogue, and shows a kind of struggle between two parts of my mind – one that needs to indulge in being alone, and one that needs to be anywhere else other than inside my own head.”

Before any understanding of production came into play, she was using her voice and the manipulation of household objects, such as ripping paper, to try and replicate these sounds in her own songs. With the help of her producer, these ideas and experiments have been brought to life in her music and her ensuing releases showcase how her sound has developed.

Based on the UK’s south coast in Bournemouth, the sea-air can arguably heard in Mhairi’s music, and with various other equally intriguing tracks on their way throughout 2016, the next few months look set to be very fruitful.

Mhairi on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mhairiofficial

Mhairi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mhairimusic

Mhairi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mhairi_music

Mhairi on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/mhairimusic