Watch Marlin's Dreaming's Video For 'Earnestly' ft. Erny Belle

Marlin’s Dreaming and Erny Belle aka Aimee Renata are a dream team-up on 'Earnestly', a new ballad about “protecting yourself from your own truth”.  The first official release from the Ōtepoti group since they shared their 2021 album Hasten, Marlin's Dreaming frontman Semisi Ma’ia’i was moved by Belle’s sonic storytelling on her debut record Venus is Home. The two Aotearoa acts melded together elements of indie-pop and country to propel a cheeky cautionary tale about hard realities that perpetuate because of rose-tinted lenses. Directed / edited by Ma’ia’i and made with the support of NZ On Air, the song's vivid video draws direct inspiration from the Coen Brothers' neo-noir 1984 classic Blood Simple. The setting of a “slightly horrific country bar” fills us with an unease, reflecting the heightened emotions that can either meddle or settle with a relationship that thrives on dysfunction...

"(It's) about a dysfunctional relationship where both sides don’t seem to be completely aligned, but at the same time both sides are madly in-love with each-other. There’s a tongue & cheek element to it though, where both narratives are asking flowery, contemplative questions, but to no immediate avail.

I met Aimee (Erny Belle) maybe a year or so ago. I’d been listening to Erny Belle’s album ‘Venus is Home’ & absolutely loved (& still love) every song. Such great songwriting & story-telling – so to have Aimee keen to sing on this song just made me so happy. I couldn’t possibly imagine this song without Erny Belle singing on it." — Semisi Ma’ia’i

'Earnestly' is out now on major streaming platforms.