A melodically unsettled fierce panda one sheet

The Act: VC PINES

The Release: THE ‘INDIGO’ EP

The Format: SIX-TRACK DIGITAL EP

The Release Date: MARCH 22ND 2019

The Tracklisting:
1. ‘Garden Of The Year’
2. ‘Vixen’
3. ‘Kinbaku’
4. ‘Indigo’
5. ‘Nervous’
6. ‘Vixen’ (Live At Miloco Studios)

Pre-Order 'Indigo' EP Here

Listen to 'Vixen' Here

Listen to 'Garden Of The Year' Here

The Truth: ‘Indigo’ is the debut EP from VC PINES, aka Jack Mercer, a man who continues to slealthily move away from the realm of indie-rock that he enjoyed as front man of The Carnabys to immerse himself in a world of alternative soul, poetry and punk performance, as evinced by new single ‘Nervous’.

Much like previous panda single releases ‘Garden Of The Year’ (a Lamacq Livener and 6Music playlist smasheroonie late last year) and January’s slinky ‘Vixen’ (itself a Jack Saunders fave on Radio One), ‘Nervous’ finds VC Pines in fiercely tremulous mode, blending lovely synthetic effects with a languid summertime guitar and a splendidly effective falsetto vocal.

Behind this fluid musical façade however there lurks a darker meaning: we all experience nervousness, it’s an adage of being human, a remnant of our hunter-gatherer ancestors who relied on this feeling to stay alert in life-and-death situations. For most of us, this nervousness is no longer connected to survival, and yet that rush of adrenaline and cortisol still surprises us in everyday situations.

For VC Pines he experienced nervous excitement during the day-to-day machinations of being a musician. As he recalls, “having that much going on around me, I started to notice a change: the skin from around my nails and my nails themselves were almost non-existent from constantly picking away when having important meetings or deep in writing sessions when my brain was no longer on this planet.”

As such ‘Nervous’ fits perfectly awkwardly into the ‘Indigo’ six-track package. Following on from a slew of terrific live shows at Notting Hill Arts Centre, the Social and the Old Blue Last where Jack was backed by an eight-piece band brassed-off to the max it delivers a blend of blue-eyed optimism and shadowy concern.

The EP was produced by Hound and VC Pines, with beats for ‘Nervous’ and ‘Kinbaku’ created by Selasi, drums for ‘Vixen’ recorded at Numen Studios and played by James Trood, whilst ‘Indigo’ was also written with Lucy Lu. As VC Pines himself states:

“My EP – ‘Indigo’ - is a culmination of works made at The HUB studio in the Kennel room, a fully soundproofed studio room above one of the oldest pubs in Britain (St Albans, to be precise). ‘Indigo’ as a collection of songs covers themes of jealousy, youthful nostalgic love, epilepsy and mental health, anxiety and bondage.”

The ‘Indigo’ EP also hereby sees VC Pines join the second fierce panda EP Club, whereby six ace new acts each released one ace new EP over the course of 12 months with the support of Arts Council England. The other bands were Jekyll, Sad Boys Club, National Service, Peeping Drexels and China Bears, and one track from each of their EPs will be collected together on the ‘The Second Fierce Panda EP Club EP’ compilation, which is released on March 29th.

VC PINES plays these shows here:

APRIL 3RD London Kings Cross Lexington
(+ Geo + Albert Gold)

APRIL 20TH Stockton Calling Festival

MAY 4TH Live At Leeds Festival

MAY 10TH BRIGHTON The Great Escape

JUNE 6TH BRISTOL The Crofters Rights

JUNE 7TH MANCHESTER Castle Hotel

“Lovely record!” - Steve Lamacq

“A soft, soul-filled performance shines through melded with wonderfully clean guitars and tight, snappy drums. All of this lies underneath a punky, yet delicate vocal that is complimented with some stunning instrumentation.” - Yack Magazine

“Dynamic, alt-soul musical vibes with soaring vocals to match.” - Headliner Magazine

“A bold and vibrant indie-pop swoon.” - Mystic Sons

“The powerful soul inspired song is heightened with emotion with the help of VC Pines’ intoxicating vocals.” - Atwood Magazine

“I love the natural soul sounds, the low notes are almost like Johnny Cash.” - Jack Saunders BBC Radio 1 (Next Wave)

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