Marjana Semkina and Anna Murphy launch Maer

Iamthemorning's Marjana Semkina and Cellar Darling's Anna Murphy have joined forces in new duo Maer, who will release their debut single, Sister, on October 17. You can watch a video teaser for the new band below.

The pair met and instantly connected when taking part in Prog Magazine's female-focused discussion panel She Rocks in 2019, and in 2021 began work on what would become Maer.

Sister also featuries Ne Obliviscaris guitarist Benjamin Baret and Agent Fresco drummer Keli Guðjónsson, and will be released on all digital platforms as well as a limited run of 300 signed and hand-numbered 7” vinyl singles.

"Maer came together very organically, it's a product of friendship and respect for each other's work. Anna is a wonderful musician and a producer and she breathes life into everything I write, turning it into something special," enthuses Semkina." We have written a substantial amount of material together already and depending on the reception Sister gets we're hoping to keep creating little dark fairytales for our listeners, eventually resulting in an album."

"We both didn’t really know what to expect when we started working together," adds Murphy. "Marjana took a leap and flew to Switzerland. We hiked, we sang, we drank wine and ended up even being able to write lyrics together which is something I’ve never done with someone. After almost 15 years of mainly being in rock and metal projects, it feels good to release something acoustic and mellow - not meaning that it’s less dark."

Sister was written and co-produced by Semkina, and co-written, produced, mixed and mastered by Murphy.

The pair are currently working on Maer's debut album

Pre-order Sister.

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.