by Chelsea Ives

On January 30^th of 2019, Alice Merton released MINT: in the making (part 1), the first part of a documentary series explaining her creative process for her debut album, Mint. Merton describes her songs in the documentary as “notes that I would put on a fridge,” as her songs a personally driven from her transient lifestyle. Many of her songs including “Homesick,” are meant to express the displacement she felt as part of her young life always moving around – but the notes are there to help her remember that life isn’t always so bad.

“Homesick,” opens with jazzy upbeat piano, and Merton’s soulful, gravelly voice – which reminds me of Florence + the Machine but with a definitive Taylor-Swift pop twist. To the ear, the first line, “I was the new kid / I was scared of dogs and the weather,” starts the song off with an upbeat and playful sound, while the lyrics reveal the underlying woe of a child in a new environment, having to make new friends in a place which is entirely foreign to them. The lyrics take a turn with Merton’s reminder – “tried my best to fit in / Started puttin’ it in a song” which is her self shout-out that life can’t be all that bad when you can make beautiful music that touches and comforts others who are in the same boat.

The chorus and post-chorus drives the upbeat sound further, with the introduction of guitar and fast-paced hand clapping which adds to the pop sound of the song.

The twenty-five-year-old singer/songwriter has shot to fame since her single, “No Roots,” was released in 2016.  The song (which appears on Mint) beautifully unites the themes of the album which include the difficulties of relocation, of meeting and keeping long-distance friends, and the overall struggles of youth. Merton successfully captures what it is like to be a young adult trying to situate themselves in the larger context of life.