Album Download: AUD $15.20

Libertine is the 2008 debut release from dynamic Sydney songstress and MC, Merenia Gillies. A rising star in the Sydney club and world music scene, Merenia is best known to date for her collaborative work with Love Tattoo, Rephrase and Paul Mac. An intensive labour of love, Libertine features an eclectic, well crafted collection of songs which inspire, empower, excite and convince the listener to surrender themselves to the infectious beats. Libertine defies traditional genre categorising and embodies elements of smooth soul, solid funk, Latin flavours and vintage hip hop. Relaying strong, saucy vocals, Libertine is indicative of Merenia�s strong personality and diverse talents as a performer, songwriter, recording artist and producer. Produced by Merenia Gillies and Adm Ventoura and mixed by Oscar �El Duro� Jimenez over the period of a year, Libertine came to life through a mix of minimal programming and live percussion. Initial programming was done in Merenia�s lounge room using the TV as a monitor speaker. A selection of the bass lines which were written and played in at that time have been used on the final master. A series of guest songwriters added their own style and finesse to a handful of tracks on Libertine, including Vicente Sebastian (Watussi), Paul Petersen (Prince and Maurice Day), Jonathan Pease (Resurrectors), Evelyn Duprai and Rephrase. A mixture of organic percussion, rhythmic forms and programmed beats layered with sampled live drums is prevalent on Libertine. The album sound and beat programming was essentially drawn from vintage hip hop and the traditional percussive beats are a direct result of using a combination of cajon, guiro, congas, timbales, bells and chekere. "If You Don�t Want My Love" is the only song on the album which involves a traditional guitar, the rest of the album instead features the cavaquinho (a traditional Brazilian four string guitar) and a vintage fender electric mandolin.