Releasing a new single and video for a song called “Glacier” at the sweltering armpit height of summer is certainly a mood, but MRCH never really played by the rules or cared for convention. The Phoenix dream-pop duo of Mickey and Jesse Pangburn, who put us in a trance with last fall’s “Wild,” a spellbinding effort that landed on our 2023 Year in ReView roundup alongside Chappell Roan and The Last Dinner Party, emerge today (July 18) with “Glacier,” a defyingly fun and buoyant electronic-pop rumbler that acts as their first dose of a sonic joyride of this yawning year.
“Glacier” finds MRCH — and that’s pronounced March, kids — expanding their wonderfully warped sense of pop with a memorable and inviting effort, and the video, directed by Mickey, has a playful VHS quality to it. But as the lyrics suggest, and possibly quite like a glacier that hides its wealth of mass and weight deep down below the water far out of view, there is more than meets the eye.
“Independently preparing a bunch of new music for the coming months, we wrote ‘Glacier’ after listening to a lot of St. Vincent and watching Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension,” the duo tells Vanyaland. “Went for a spooky sweet summer vibe for a DIY video… [but] things aren’t always what they seem though, so be sure to watch til’ the end.”
And when the end arrives, turn it back around and start once more from the top. Because true to form, this latest effort from MRCH gets better with each listen or view.
***