Tokyo/Honolulu Darkwave
The search for a virtual collaborator on a Valentine’s Day song was the impetus that formed Mesmershade, a dark electronic duo exploring new genre-bending realms of music.
Juniper Jow, a Hawaii-based lyricist, was determined to find a match. “So I did what any (slightly in-)sane person would, I scrolled through every user on the site, looking for someone with the same avatar.”
Tokyo based songwriter M. Munigant continued, “That’s honestly how it all started. I’m not even sure what either of us saw in the other. I didn’t think we were really making stuff that would mesh together at all, but when we tried it, something about the whole thing just clicked.”
The Valentine’s song the duo wrote together, Vicissitude, is one of the six songs included on Mesmershade’s debut EP, Echoes of Elegy, released on September 22, 2023.
The lead single for the EP, Moth, examines symbolism in the face of the recent loss of a loved one. This melancholic track features Munigant’s characteristic dark, breezy synths, classical guitar, bone vibrating bass, and eclectic drums mixed with Jow’s haunting vocals and emotionally charged lyrics to create a song that draws from a wealth of varied musical influences.
Other songs on the EP include We Don’t Have To Wait, an anthem for service workers, The Best That I Could Invent, a heart wrenching reflection on unrequited love, We Sleep, a study of relationship power dynamics, and Death’s Lover, an incisive juxtaposition of death and desire.
The duo’s inherent chemistry shines clearly throughout the EP.
“I had a hunch,” laughed Jow. “His tracks were latent with inspiration. I knew as soon as I heard the music that I would be able to come up with lyrics if he wanted them. When I’m writing the lyrics, it feels like I’m just listening for the words that were already there.”
“It’s like she has a hidden sense that picks up exactly what I need on any given song,” agreed Munigant. “I might feel a track is missing something, but once I get the vocals back and mix them in, that’s it—the missing piece it needed.”
Mesmershade’s Echoes of Elegy crashes boldly into novel ideas to create an ominous soundtrack with moving and relatable lyrics combined with inspiration from disparate and unexpected sources.
Mesmershade is a transpacific darkwave/dark pop/gothic duo made up of :
Juniper Jow: Vocals, Lyrics
M. Munigant: Songwriter, Producer