SOUL RELEASE: Merenia Gillies Releases Debut Album Libertine

Libertine is the debut release from dynamic Sydney songstress and MC, Merenia Gillies. A rising star in the Sydney club and world music scene, Merenia is best known for her collaborative work with Love Tattoo, Rephrase and Paul Mac and recent signing to the ABC Music Publishing roster.

An intensive labour of love, Libertine defies traditional genre categorising and embodies elements of smooth soul, solid funk, Latin flavours and vintage Hip Hop. Relaying strong, saucy vocals, Libertine is indicative of Merenia’s strong personality and diverse talents as a performer, songwriter, recording artist and producer. Songs from the forthcoming album are already getting spins on FBI radio (Sydney), as well as the track Avance (como me gusta tu ritmo), a collaboration between Merenia Gillies and the All Good Funk Alliance (US), which is receiving worldwide attention.

Produced by Merenia Gillies and Adm Ventoura and mixed by Oscar "El Duro" Jimenez (from ARIA nominated band Watussi) over the period of a year, Libertine came to life through a mix of minimal programming and live percussion. Initial programming was done in Merenia’s lounge room on Garage Band, using the TV as a monitor speaker. A series of guest songwriters added their own style and finesse to a handful of tracks on Libertine, including Vicente Sebastian (Watussi), Paul Petersen (Prince and Maurice Day), Jonathan Pease (Resurrectors), Evelyn Duprai and Rephrase.

A mixture of organic percussion, rhythmic forms and programmed beats, layered with sampled live drums, is prevalent on Libertine. The album sound and beat programming was essentially drawn from vintage Hip Hop and the traditional percussive beats are a direct result of using a combination of cajon, guiro, congas, timbales, bells and chekere. If You Don’t Want My Love is the only song on the album which involves a traditional guitar, the rest of the album instead features the cavaquinho (a traditional Brasillian four string guitar) and a vintage fender electric mandolin.

Merenia Gillies will be showcasing Libertine in one special Sydney performance before embarking overseas to fulfill tour commitments. Merenia Gillies will be returning to Australia in December 2009 in order to prepare for a series of album showcases and the Australian Festival season.

Libertine is available now through Inertia Records.