The South African alt-pop duo EMERGER, comprised of vocalist and pianist Emma de Goede and multi-instrumentalist and producer Gerry Matthee has recently released their new single “Round We Go”. The twosome met in high school and went on to study music together at the University of Cape Town (UCT). EMERGER has garnered a lot of attention with their debut album Bloom which featured on Apple Music South Africa’s New Artist Spotlight.
“Round We Go” will be the second single in a string of new releases in anticipation of the duo’s upcoming full-length album which is set to be released later in 2021. After seeing the success of Bloom in 2018, the duo planned to start 2021 off on a high note by releasing their new single. The album EMERGER plans to release will have strong allusions to 80s synth-pop – this is what the newly released single hints towards.
Matthee produced “Round We Go” in the duo’s home studio in Cape Town. “We wrote this song for all the creators out there. ‘Round We Go’ revolves around the artist’s raison d’être, which is to create. The lyrics play with the idea that an artist’s relationship with their art can be similar to the ebb and flow of a romantic relationship. The song chronicles the creative process and all of its intricacies. Everything involved with the creation of a work of art has so many layers of complexities, which we feel a lot of people have taken for granted,” said Matthee.
Along with the single “Round We Go”, EMERGER has also released a music video, which is now available on the duo’s website as well as YouTube. The video was directed by De Goede with clear intention.
“Being immersed within a tank of thousands of lights, the video portrays how the creative process can be all-encompassing. We knew from the start we wanted to establish a cinematic experience. Our friend, Goddy Roodt, owner of Polycat animation and visual effects studio, exhibited his Light Tank art installation at the 99 Loop Gallery, which was the perfect setting to shoot the music video for ‘Round We Go’,” said De Goede.
Stellenbosch is dear to both Matthee and De Goede seeing as he studied LLB at SU and they formed their first band, Lemolow, together in Stellenbosch. “I was a resident in Helderberg in 2009 and then moved to a flat in Het Begijnhof in 2010. With my previous band, called Lemolow, in which Emma was also the lead singer, we won the Woordfees Ketel prys in 2009, giving us the opportunity to perform at the Geraas In Die Gat in the Neelsie. We still love going back to Stellies and EMERGER performed at Aandklas in 2019,” said Matthee.
For more information on EMERGER visit emergermusic.com or @emergermusic on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
