VC Pines is the project of Jack Mercer, a musician who graced these digital pages as the former frontman of The Carnabys.
Moving away from the anthemic indie rock of his earlier incarnation, Jack has embraced unrestrained creativity, with VC Pines occupying a more viscous, fluid realm.
New single 'Vixen' continues these explorations, and it's about what the songwriter himself terms "mental vacancy", that sort of retreat from the everyday.
Moving from plangent psych to soul, pop to spoken word, it's an intriguing, late night affair, a twilight burner that refuses to give up its secrets lightly.
Prompted in part by his own epilepsy, the song has a personal edge, while retaining a playful sense of creativity. VC Pines:
"'Vixen' is about mental vacancy and an apology for being so. I'd been focused so much on my music for months and months and months and had kind of forgotten people that were most important in my life."
He continues: "The song is also a statement to say that even if I'm vacant minded here and there, and seem like just a shell, not to worry about me. Mental vacancy is also something that can happen to me physically as a symptom of epilepsy, but I'm always okay after a seizure and it's not something that will be the end of me."
Tune in now.
Catch VC Pines at London's Lock Tavern for the Switch night on January 24th – details.
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