Whether he’s scouring the darkest reaches of the psyche or basking in the bright rays of enlightenment, mehro’s rich, multi-layered music revels in the duality of the human experience. That’s particularly true of the L.A. native’s Dark Corners and Alchemy album — a staggeringly vulnerable 12-song journey into the heart of a singular artist that treats despair and self-destruction with as much reverence as hope and healing. Originating as a pair of projects, mehro combined Dark Corners and Alchemy to provide the framework for an album. “Sonically, we had two very separate worlds and I wanted to bring them together,” he says. “They sound drastically different from each other, and I didn't want to choose.” The young artist wanted to show all the facets of his artistry, from half-whispered lullabies to raucous rock anthems, while exploring a common theme: pain. Each half of the record expresses the subject matter differently against the backdrop of love, lust, and matters of the shattered heart. “Dark Corners wallows in the pain and really feels those feelings,” mehro says, referencing cuts like “howling” and “pirate song,” “while Alchemy is about taking pain and turning it into something positive in your life.” Viral hit “Whore” is a perfect example of his ability to find beauty in the darkness. On it, mehro turns the titular insult inside out. “It’s a hypocritical statement in its entirety,” he says, adding that everyone has been used at some point in their life. “If you adjust your viewpoint and say that we're all whores, then no one is.” For mehro, it runs deeper than erasing shame and stigma. It’s about self-acceptance: “You're worthy of love no matter what decisions that you've made in your life.” A scholar of the human condition, mehro also acknowledges that despair can linger even when healing begins on songs like the bittersweet “princes of melancholia.” Written in Mexico City in one sitting, the shoegaze gem grapples with residual sadness. “You can love something, you can love a situation that you're in and still be sad,” he says. “Emptiness and gratitude are not mutually exclusive. Something great can happen and part of us isn't able to enjoy it.” Enveloped in music from childhood, mehro initially resisted its call. “I never thought I would be a musician,” he admits. That changed when the then-teenager watched the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line. Inspired, he picked up a guitar that night and started learning “Folsom Prison Blues.” He was hooked and started expressing his innermost thoughts in songs. By 2018, mehro knew that music would be his life: “It's the most fulfilling thing that I could possibly do.” The singer-songwriter released his debut single “Perfume” in 2020 and immediately caused ripples despite the pandemic. The stripped-back love song went on to garner more than 50 million streams on Spotify alone and heralded mehro as one of the year’s breakout artists, with a performance on the prestigious NPR Tiny Desk series and accolades from the likes of FLOOD Magazine, All Songs Considered, The Line of Best Fit, Flaunt Magazine, Ones to Watch and more. Among his most recent singles from Dark Corners is “pretty kids,” a breezy indie pop track that was in full rotation for over 2 months straight on Sirius/XM Alt Nation’s “Critical Cut.” “From the moment that the first song was out, it was such a relieving, incredible, timeless feeling,” he says. “I was just so proud to show what I could do.” A series of viral hits followed including “hideous” and “chance with you,” both of which would find their way to mehro’s debut body of work SKY ON FIRE in 2021. As his profile soared, the singer-songwriter’s unwavering attention to songcraft and lyrical authenticity only deepened. “It’s never felt big or small to me,” he says of his music. “It's always just been everything.” After all, mehro has a bigger goal in mind — one related to his mysterious moniker. Pronounced “marrow,” the name mehro encapsulates his goal of seeping into the literal DNA of listeners. “The concept was born from bone marrow: It’s essential for us to live, but we never see it,” he says. “I hope my music can be the marrow of someone’s soul.” By sharing so much of himself — and, in turn, making others feel seen — on Dark Corners and Alchemy, mehro comes a step closer to his quixotic goal. “I’m chasing a dragon that can never be caught.”
.jpg)
