Love Letter To A Record: Merpire On The ‘Moulin Rouge!’ Soundtrack

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Music Feeds’Love Letter to a Recordseries asks artists to reflect on their relationship with the music they love and share stories about how it has influenced their lives. Here, Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt – AKA Melbourne indie rock singer-songwriter Merpire – has reverted to her teenage theatre-kid self to revel in Moulin Rouge! Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film, the 2001 soundtrack to the blockbuster film starring Ewan McGregor and Australia’s very own Nicole Kidman.

The letter arrives on release day for Merpire’s long-awaited second studio album Milk Pool, which arrives four years after her debut album Simulation Ride. The album has been roadtested extensively over the last year, with Merpire opening for the likes of Jebediah, Fanning Dempsey National Park, Bombay Bicycle Club and Ball Park Music. She will take it on the road with an east-coast solo tour in August, as well as a slot at this year’s Town Folk music festival out in Castlemaine, Victoria.

Listen to Milk Pool below, with Rhiannon’s love letter tothe Moulin Rouge! soundtrackafter that, as well as her upcoming national tour dates listed at the bottom.

Merpire – Milk Pool

I’m imagining the following love letter landing on the writing desk of Christian (Ewan McGregor) in the attic in Moulin Rouge!. It’s among a pile of other love letters. If I had written it by hand the first time I heard the soundtrack, it would be on paper hand-made by myself, in metallic, coloured pens with stickers and kisses bordering the paragraphs, finished off with a subtle hint of cheap perfume rubbed in from a sample in a magazine. I would be 13 years old.

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Dear Moulin Rouge! Music from Baz Luhrmann’s Film (2001),

You do not know me. Nor do you know the depths of the romantic notions, daydreams and beckoning darkness you awoke in me as a teenage girl. At 13, your visual world and the soundtrack to match, slapped me in the face with a glitter bomb and suddenly everything was possible. I felt like Dorothy stepping into the colourful world of Oz.

Bordering on puberty and all the feelings that go with that, songs like ‘Come What May’ and ‘Elephant Love Medley’ had me dropping fat tears all over my Discman, trying to blubber and sniffle along with Ewan and Nicole. These songs were so big and dramatic to me, and I loved feeling hopelessly in love with the idea of love – something I knew nothing about, but something I just knew I needed more than anything in the world. I tormented my aching heart listening to these songs over and over again, loving the pain, the anguish, the despair.

Select friends and I would perform ‘Elephant Love Melody’ in the school quad, much to the older group’s annoyance, taking turns on which part we’d sing. Arms were outstretched in the climax, as we sang “Iiiiiiii will love you/Until my dyyyyyiiiiing daaaaay.” This is how I learned to sing harmonies: Singing along to ‘Children Of The Revolution’, sharing an ear bud each, dancing in our seats on the bus home from school. We felt like we were going to change the world.

Moulin Rouge! – ‘Come What May’

Listening to ‘Nature Boy’ (the David Bowie and Massive Attack version) and Beck’s cover of ‘Diamond Dogs’ scared me a little. I was drawn to this fear, not understanding what exactly I was afraid of. It felt like a safe danger, somehow. I was obsessed with this dark, creepy mood that it evoked. It felt like something only I knew. There was this strength and safety in knowing. I would say these songs are where my obsession for creepy but also clever music production started.

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‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’ was my ultimate indulgence in escapism. I’d perform this song in the lounge room to myself when no one was home. Using the couch, coffee table and walls as props to dramatically flop down on, dragging a hand gently over surfaces as I slowly sashayed around the room. Riding in the backseat of the car, I’d stare out the window, miming along: “One day I’ll fly away/Leave all this to yesterday”. I was imagining I was on my way to another life. I’d even try to cry out a single tear to drip down my face for effect. This song made me feel like the star of my own coming-of-age story, and was the shining light driving me towards a career in music.

Such confessions can only be made in a love letter like this. I just thought you should know the profound effect you had on me as a hormonal human being – and, upon reflection, on my songwriting. The way your collection of songs made me feel so much is how I wish listeners to feel even an inkling of when listening to my songs – the daydreams out the window, the sonic description of big crushes… and, of course, those big, secret feelings.

Merpire Milk Pool 2025 Tour

Sunday, July 6th – Soundmerch, Melbourne VIC

Friday, August 15th – The Junk Bar, Brisbane QLD

Saturday, August 16th – Lazy Thinking, Sydney NSW

Sunday, August 17th – Smith’s Alternative, Canberra ACT

Thursday, August 21st and Thursday, August 28th – Merri Creek Tavern, Melbourne VIC

Saturday, November 15th – Town Folk Festival, Castlemaine VIC

Tickets are on sale now via Merpire’s KOMI.

Further Reading

Love Letter To A Record: Carboard Cutouts On Whitley’s ‘The Submarine’

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Love Letter To A Record: Mikayla Pasterfield On Matt Maeson’s ‘Bank On The Funeral’

Love Letter To A Record: Djanaba On Amaraae’s ‘Fountain Baby’

The post Love Letter To A Record: Merpire On The ‘Moulin Rouge!’ Soundtrack appeared first on Music Feeds.

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