Mercury’s Antennae: Returns After Seven Years with ‘The Reflecting Skin’ and New Album

After a prolonged absence of seven years, Mercury’s Antennae has emerged once more from the shadows, unveiling their latest single, ‘The Reflecting Skin.’ Released on February 22, 2025, through Sett Records, the track marks not only their long-awaited return but also signals the arrival of their third studio album, ‘Among the Black Trees,’ set for release in March. With their signature blend of ethereal darkwave and atmospheric soundscapes, the band reintroduces listeners to their hauntingly immersive world—one shaped by melancholic textures, spectral vocals, and a brooding undercurrent of introspection.

Formed in the early 2010s, Mercury’s Antennae itself is a product of gothic rock lineage and creative cross-pollination. Vocalist Dru Allen and bassist Cindy Coulter first made their mark in This Ascension, a revered Santa Barbara goth, ethereal band active in the late ’80s and ’90s​. Joining forces with multi-instrumentalist Erick R. Scheid – alumnus of the darkwave outfit The Palace of Tears – they founded Mercury’s Antennae as a vehicle to explore ethereal music’s further reaches​. From the start, the trio drew on a rich well of influences: shoegaze’s blurry guitars, ambient electronics, and the elegiac atmospheres of classic darkwave. This blend of backgrounds and styles gave Mercury’s Antennae a pedigree within the alternative and gothic music scenes even before their first release.

That debut album, ‘A Waking Ghost Inside’ (2014), introduced the band’s aesthetic with a delicate explosion of sound. Critics noted a strong 4AD Records influence on the record, comparing its lush tracks to the work of Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance and the all-star project This Mortal Coil​. The album, released on the venerable Projekt label (home to many ’90s goth/darkwave acts), also echoed the sensibilities of American ethereal bands like Love Spirals Downwards and Lycia​. Even the group’s inspirations reached across centuries – from the dreamy electronics of Tangerine Dream to the celestial chants of twentieth-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen​ – underscoring an expansive creative vision. Allen’s vocals, often described as siren-like and “angelic,” intertwine with Scheid’s shimmering, reverb-soaked guitar lines to conjure what one encyclopedia of goth music calls “dreamy atmospheres” built on “soprano vocals and shimmery, reverb-soaked guitars”​. In a musical landscape that can favor brute force, Mercury’s Antennae chose a more otherworldly path, hewing closer to the romantic and the melancholic.

Over the next few years, the band steadily refined its craft. They followed ‘A Waking Ghost Inside’ with an EP, ‘The Guides’ (2015), and a second album, ‘Beneath the Serene’ (2016)​. Each release delved deeper into wistful reveries and layered sonic textures, cementing their reputation in the goth underground as purveyors of “ethereal darkwave” in its purest form. By the time Mercury’s Antennae released ‘The Moon Viewing Garden’ EP in 2018​, their sound had evolved into a lush, introspective tapestry — a fusion of gauzy guitar currents and swirling synthesizer ambience, anchored by Allen’s emotive voice. That EP would be their last for a long stretch. What followed was an extended silence: no tours, no new songs, only the lingering echoes of their previous work to tide over a devoted fan base.

The Genesis of ‘The Reflecting Skin’

This spring’s sudden return thus arrives steeped in both nostalgia and renewed creative energy. ‘The Reflecting Skin,’ the lead single for the upcoming album, carries with it a fascinating bit of musical archaeology​. The song’s moody bassline was originally conceived by Cindy Coulter back in the mid-1990s, when she and Allen were bandmates in This Ascension​. “It was one of those ideas that just never took flight,” Coulter says of the riff that sat on the shelf for decades, awaiting resurrection​. Rediscovering that dormant fragment, the trio built it into a new composition – a process that has bridged two eras of gothic rock. To further accentuate that bridge, Mercury’s Antennae enlisted William Faith, a veteran of goth music (known from Faith and the Muse, and incidentally Coulter’s brother), to produce and remix the track. For Faith, working with his old comrades was “like going home,” an effort that felt “at once nostalgic and classic in feel, while updating the sonic depth and breadth in a way that suits the moment”​.

The dormant composition found new life when introduced to multi-instrumentalist Erick r. Scheid, whose enthusiasm reignited the project’s momentum. Collaboratively, the trio refined the piece, with vocalist Dru Allen contributing evocative lyrics and haunting vocals. The song’s title, ‘The Reflecting Skin,’ inspired a thematic exploration of self-perception and the mirroring nature of human relationships. Allen elaborated, “The idea that other people are reflections of us and what we gravitate toward (or are repulsed by) reflects our own inner positives and negatives.”

The track’s resurgence is further distinguished by the involvement of William Faith, a prominent figure in the gothic music scene and Coulter’s sibling. Faith’s remix infuses the song with a haunting, driving, and atmospheric quality, adding a layer of sonic alchemy that seems to emanate from another time and place. This collaborative effort not only revitalized a long-shelved idea but also underscores the band’s commitment to exploring the depths of human emotion and connection through their music.

William Faith’s Remix Contribution

Renowned musician and producer William Faith, celebrated for his work with Faith and the Muse and The Bellwether Syndicate, has infused Mercury’s Antennae’s latest single, ‘The Reflecting Skin,’ with his distinctive touch through a compelling remix. This collaboration is deeply rooted in personal and professional history, as Faith shares a familial bond with bassist Cindy Coulter and a longstanding creative partnership with vocalist Dru Allen, both dating back to their tenure in This Ascension. Reflecting on this reunion, Faith remarked, “Having worked closely with Dru and my sister Cindy in This Ascension beginning some 32 years ago, this was very comfortable and familiar territory.”

Faith’s remix artfully bridges the band’s classic ethereal sound with contemporary sonic elements, resulting in a haunting and atmospheric rendition. He described the endeavor as “a dynamic and exciting creative endeavor… bridging the time gap with an interesting take on the song that is at once nostalgic and classic in feel, while updating the sonic depth and breadth in a way that suits the moment.”

B-Side: ‘Agalia MMXXV’

The single’s B-side, meanwhile, revisits ‘Agalia,’ a deep cut from the band’s debut album, now re-recorded and updated as ‘Agalia MMXXV’ with freshly layered guitars and bass​. This dialogue between past and present – remixing a new song rooted in a ’90s bass sketch, reimagining an earlier track – is more than a clever conceit. It encapsulates Mercury’s Antennae’s journey and the ethereal darkwave genre’s broader evolution: always looking backward and forward at once, finding continuity in a style often described as timeless.

‘The Reflecting Skin’ serves as a precursor to Mercury’s Antennae’s forthcoming album, ‘Among the Black Trees.’ Scheduled for release in March 2025 through Sett Records, the album is highly anticipated by fans and critics alike. It promises to delve deeper into the band’s signature blend of ethereal soundscapes and introspective themes. The band has announced that an album teaser video will be available soon.

This upcoming release marks a significant milestone in the band’s discography, reflecting their evolution and continued dedication to their craft. Listeners can expect a rich tapestry of sound that honors their roots while exploring new sonic territories.

Ethereal Darkwave, Remembered

The genre of ethereal darkwave that Mercury’s Antennae inhabits has its own winding history. Also known simply as ethereal wave or ethereal goth, it emerged in the early 1980s United Kingdom as an offshoot of the post-punk gothic rock movement​. The independent label 4AD became synonymous with this sound, thanks to trailblazing acts like Cocteau Twins and early guitar-driven Dead Can Dance, who infused gothic music with a dreamy, otherworldly ambience​. Their songs veered away from the blunt edges of rock, instead favoring lush textures, haunting vocals and introspective moods. By the latter half of the ’80s, the style had crossed the Atlantic: American labels such as C’est La Mort and Projekt Records nurtured homegrown ethereal bands, from Area and Heavenly Bodies to Black Tape for a Blue Girl​. These groups expanded the sonic palette with touches of electronic programming and neo-classical melodies, all while maintaining the “gothic, romantic, and otherworldly” spirit that defines ethereal darkwave​. Female vocals have often been central – the genre is predominantly female-fronted, offering a sharp contrast to many male-dominated rock subgenres – and the lyrics frequently explore poetic, mystical or melancholic themes in lieu of pop music’s typical fare.

By the early 1990s, ethereal darkwave had left an indelible mark on the broader alternative music spectrum even as it peaked within the goth subculture. The atmospheric experiments of Cocteau Twins and their peers were a direct inspiration for the dream pop and shoegaze movements that blossomed in Britain at that time​. Bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, while not goth by identity, owed a creative debt to those “ethereal” pioneers in their use of dense reverb and mood-over-matter songwriting.

Within the dedicated gothic scene, ethereal wave coexisted alongside harder-edged genres, offering a softer counterpart to the era’s industrial rock and aggressive post-punk revival. Iconic ethereal/goth albums—such as ‘Within the Realm of a Dying Sun’ by Dead Can Dance or Black Tape for a Blue Girl’s Remnants of a ‘Deeper Purity’—became touchstones for fans seeking beauty and melancholy intertwined. As the ’90s progressed, however, musical trends shifted; goth audiences gravitated more toward synth-heavy industrial and EBM (electronic body music), and the ethereal style retreated to a smaller, devoted circle. Many of its flagship bands either dissolved or evolved in new directions, and by the 2000s the genre’s presence was comparatively subdued.

Mercury’s Antennae’s own story mirrors this larger arc of the genre. They rose from the ashes of an earlier gothic-rock era, conjured a sound that paid homage to ethereal wave’s golden age, and now press forward, bridging old and new. In doing so, the band has become a living link between the scene’s founding inspirations and its contemporary renaissance. Their comeback, welcomed by longtime fans of hazy goth reverie, also arrives at a moment when nostalgic sounds are being rediscovered by a new generation of listeners. As the group prepares to release ‘Among the Black Trees,’ one hears not only the culmination of their personal musical journey but also the echoes of a broader movement that has ebbed and flowed through underground music for over forty years. It is a reminder that in music, as in nature, certain currents run deep and enduring: the ethereal spark that first glimmered in dimly lit clubs of the 1980s is still flickering, finding new life in artists like Mercury’s Antennae and resonating with those drawn to beauty in the darkness.

Conclusion

Mercury’s Antennae’s return with ‘The Reflecting Skin’ not only concludes a seven-year hiatus but also reaffirms their influential presence within the ethereal darkwave genre. This release, enriched by William Faith’s remix, seamlessly blends the band’s classic atmospheric sound with contemporary nuances, offering a fresh yet familiar auditory experience.

As anticipation builds for their forthcoming album, ‘Among the Black Trees,’ set to release on the Spring Equinox in March 2025, the trio continues to captivate audiences by intertwining past inspirations with modern innovations. This upcoming work promises to delve deeper into their signature blend of ethereal soundscapes and introspective themes, marking a significant evolution in their musical journey.