John Taylor helps bring Merchant's April debut album to fruition

Beautiful Meltdown, the debut album from Merchant (Nate Merchant), arrives April 8. It was produced with Duran Duran bassist John Taylor. 

In Fall 2020, the collaboration between Merchant and Taylor began. The bassist/singer was intrigued by a new batch of musical ideas presented to him by Merchant and soon the pair embarked on weekly sessions in a Westwood studio, arranging, recording and polishing the tracks.

Taylor remarked, “From the moment I heard the music I felt that it deserved a big audience. Nate is an extremely talented young artist — a great storyteller, and a very accomplished musician. We’ve had a fantastic time working on this together.”

The release of Beautiful Meltdown follows several singles co-produced by Duran Duran’s John Taylor, which have reached #1 on the Hype Machine Chart and received support WFNM, KCRW and SiriusXM. Additionally, the songs have seen adds on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds” and “Fresh Finds Pop" as well as Apple Music.

As reported last year, first single "Dead Days & Gatorade" features a sax solo by two-time Grammy nominee and smooth jazz veteran Mindi Abair.

“I had written the chorus [to Dead Days] about two years ago and I put it to the side because I thought it was too personal. Fast forward to working with John and he was really pushing me toward lyrics that were more honest and open. Right then, I knew I had to go back to 'Dead Days' and finish telling that story,” recalls Merchant, in a prepared statement.

For the music video, Merchant recruited legendary director Nick Egan, known for Oasis’ “Live Forever,” Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” and Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World,” among others.

The video immerses Merchant and Taylor in the illusory allure of LA after dark even as the song uncovers the false promises the City of Angels is famous for whispering to young talent yearning for stardom. But as the song progresses, the listener senses a new, more grounded, reality has arrived even while the singer holds fast to the hope that, just maybe, there are diamonds amongst those hypnotic lights shimmering in the dark valley below Mulholland Drive.

Track listing:

1. Beautiful Meltdown

2. Adderall (Why Don't You Let Me Go)

3. Missing You

4. Time to Tell the Truth (interlude)

5. I Hate it Here

6. Better This Way

7. Dead Days & Gatorade

8. Empty

9. Don't Feel Like Dancing

10. Lose Somebody

11. Me Without You

12. Take it From Ya