VC Pines teams up with The 1975's Ross MacDonald on "Colours"

Following a string of EPs – Concrete (2021), Skully (2020) and Indigo (2019) – VC Pines (Violet Coloured Pines), AKA Jack Mercer, has announced his debut album.

MRI features the singles "Dangling" and "Running"; both of which released earlier this year.

"Colours was written between myself, Ross MacDonald (The 1975) and songwriter/producer Ed Thomas. It takes the piss out of drunken calls to your ex. The mid section hits like a sudden wave of regret that you'd feel the morning after, until inevitably you get drunk again and your cares are thrown back out the window," he says.

"I also wanted the song itself to sound and move like a London night bus journey on the top deck. Certain elements come in and out like the characters you encounter.We wrote the song at Ed's studio, and later me and Ross built on the production together. I loved each step of the process and letting the tune grow and grow until it explodes into the fast paced traffic that it is at the end."

Recently diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy, having suffered with seizures since he was seventeen-years-old, the sound of an MRI has been omnipotent throughout his recent years, and now becomes the inspiration behind his new full-length release.

Speaking about the new LP, he said, "MRI encapsulates the shifts and the scoops that my brain goes through on a daily basis. It covers themes of neurology, love, jealousy, addictions, confusion, nurture and most of all nostalgia. I wanted the opening track, "Chamber" to feel and sound like a seizure. It's warm and welcoming and soft, much like the pre-sensations I have, but stitched to it is the huge juxtaposition of an MRI scan, stabbing into your ears and carving mental scars like some aggravated, untamed beast until it eventually falls asleep. The album rises and falls, a bit like growing up in London. Sometimes you feel like jumping out into the world or out the window, and other days you need to dive down and be alone in your thoughts. As an independent artist, creating this was a difficult but rewarding process, especially being able to retain full creative control. It's tough exposing yourself and your insecurities on a record, but I really feel like a weight has been lifted."