Merk Shares 'Laps Around The Sun’ Single / Video

We've got another in the series of melancholy Merk songs for celebratory occasions! While we were all thrilled to sing 'H.N.Y.B' on December 31st 2020, we can now ditch that chirpy ol' Happy Birthday refrain for Merk's heartbreaking new single 'Laps Around The Sun'. The third track from his sophomore album Infinite Youth, due out in April on Humblebrag Records and brand new signing Native Tongue, Mark Perkins wrote 'Laps Around The Sun' some years ago on a particularly glum birthday as a way to turn the existentialness of it all on its head. By taking "everything is meaningless and so am I" and making it "there’s beauty to be found in the never-ending repetitions and rhythms of life", Perkins embraces the cyclical nature of life on earth over simple, building synths and harmonies.

Created with support from NZ On Air, Perkins, Martin Sagadin and Abigail Egden put their talented heads together on the equally beautiful visual element to 'Laps Around The Sun'. Appropriately shot on Merk's actual birthday with his actual birthday cake, birthday pizza and birthday friends, we follow him around Tāmaki on what would otherwise be an insignificant day, made extraordinary by taking notice of the beauty in the common and mundane. Roughly this time last year the Merk band was deep in rehearsals for their set at SXSW. Of course the trip to Austin couldn't happen, but finally there's an outlet for all the potential performance energy to be channelled into - SXSW Digital this March. Keep an eye out for livestream dates and locations, but for now take a moment to be grateful for your ears, your coffee and Friday eve while listening to 'Laps Around The Sun' on repeat...

Merk's sophomore album 'Infinite Youth' is out 9th April via Humblebrag Records.