Mer Marcum reveals Nan Goldin-inspired debut EP You Never Did Anything Wrong

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The seven-track collection takes its title from a photograph by Nan Goldin, which Marcum encountered at an exhibition. The photo showed a tombstone for Goldin’s cat bearing the epitaph You never did anything wrong. "I was thinking about the idea of giving yourself permission for not knowing what you’re doing," Marcum explains. "Life constantly asks, ‘Who are you? What will you do? Who will you be with? What will you accomplish?’ To ease that tension, it’s helpful to remember that we’re all just out here trying.”

New song "stay away!" arrives with a lo-fi visual directed by Brooks Travers that captures themes of rumination and destructive patterns. Marcum describes the song as being “about a characteristically parasitic relationship,” adding: “It’s about giving as much as you can to someone who willingly takes and takes and then meets your kindness with cruelty. This relationship left me feeling pathetic and empty, embarrassed, and confused, and upset enough to write this song called 'stay away!' both a command and a question that dragged on far too long before I finally understood the only way to get out was to cut it off."

The EP is structured around Marcum’s childhood, balancing grief, love and identity with explorations of loss and innocence. “The cool part of being an artist is figuring out how to approach universal themes in a way nobody’s ever expressed them before,” says Marcum. “And maybe, in doing that, someone out there will feel understood.”

Originally from Waco, Texas, Marcum relocated to New York after graduating college, enrolling in Berklee NYC’s Audio Engineering programme and immersing herself in the city’s creative scene. She co-produced the EP with Pearce Gronek (Hudson Freeman, Hollis Howard) but took the reins entirely on "what is it about me”, her first entirely self-produced track.

Marcum is set to appear at this year’s SXSW as part of the Official Artist roster, playing the Digital Twang Showcase, before opening for Darryl Rahn at Mercury Lounge on 21 March.