
El Mar celebrates her love with mystical mermaid rock flair on "The Best One"
Brooklyn-based musician El Mar followed up 2017 album Try To Forget with single "New Life" back in February. Our second taste of new music from the self-described "mystical mermaid rocker" – real name Joey Primero – is the melodic "The Best One", with its soothing opening giving way to heartfelt, percussive guitar rock.
A Berklee graduate and former publicist, Primero is more than familiar with the fickle beast of the music industry. Now channelling her passion into her own solo project, El Mar's thoughtful yet bright output harks back to 90s sounds with a modern edge, reminiscent of Wolf Alice or Black Honey. "The Best One" embodies her listenable songwriting style, with simple but effective musicianship telling a heartfelt – and indeed, heartwarming – story about her guitarist and husband-to-be, Fred Sladkey. It's a perfect song to tide you through the last wintery dregs before summer takes full hold, with enough sunshine to bolster even the greyest of days.
"'The Best One' is so special to me and it kind of just wrote itself," explains Primero. "I am getting married this year, and taking that leap makes you really reflect on your life and your relationships. I complain a lot about everything, but it's made me realize how lucky I am to have found my person. It's also probably the most romantic song I've ever written. I tend to write about the negatives and not the positives, so this was a new thing for me as a songwriter."
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