Mermaidonmars Turns Birthday Dread Into Alt-Pop Gold

There's something unsettling about birthdays when you really think about it. The forced celebration, the awkward singing, the pressure to feel special on command. Netherlands-based artist mermaidonmars gets it, and on her latest single "Birthday Party Crash," she's turned that specific kind of social anxiety into something that sounds both haunting and impossibly catchy.

The track radiates alt-pop in its purest form, built on layered synths that shift from wailing to twinkling without warning. It's the kind of production that keeps you slightly off-balance, which seems entirely intentional. What makes it work is how mermaidonmars leans into that discomfort rather than smoothing it over. Her vocal production sits somewhere between heavily pop-influenced and genuinely experimental, processed just enough to feel slightly otherworldly but never losing the emotional core.

Then there's the key change near the end. It's not the triumphant kind you'd expect from a pop song trying to hit its climax. Instead, it feels like the moment when a party that was already weird suddenly goes completely sideways. You can almost see the birthday candles flickering as things start to unravel.

The music video matches that energy perfectly. Eerie and atmospheric, it follows mermaidonmars walking alone through a warm-lit room filled with decorative clothing, the kind of setup that should feel cozy but instead reads as slightly surreal. It's her signature off-beat dreaminess with a darker twist, pulling viewers deeper into the strange world she's been building across her releases. The warm lighting contrasts with the isolation, creating this tension between comfort and unease that runs through all her work.

"Birthday Party Crash" marks the third single from her upcoming debut album Spellbook, dropping mid-December 2025. It's been a quick rise for the half-Dutch, half-Hungarian artist born Shanna van Loozenoord. She released her debut single "shooting her" just two years ago in November 2023, initially producing and writing everything herself. Her debut EP Like A God followed in December 2024, and now she's working with producer Synthetic to expand her sound without losing what made it distinct in the first place.

The stage name itself gives you a hint about where her head's at. She loved mermaids as a kid, the kind who watched H2O: Just Add Water and Mako Mermaids on repeat. But Mars, the planet and Roman god of war, felt right for the sometimes aggressive, confrontational edge in her music. It's that tension between fantasy and conflict that makes her work so compelling. There's a warlike quality to some of her tracks, as she puts it, but it's filtered through this dreamy, aquatic lens that softens the blow without dulling the impact.

Looking at her streaming numbers, it's clear listeners are connecting with that duality. "kiss french" has pulled in nearly 200,000 plays, while "romantic malevolence" sits at over 152,000 streams. "Like a God" has 134,000 plays, "Ease" is at 53,000, and "I'm So Pretty" leads the pack with over 71,000 streams. Each track shows a different angle of her sound while maintaining that mystical, slightly unnerving quality that makes her immediately recognizable.

What's interesting about mermaidonmars is how she occupies this specific space between accessible and experimental. The songs are structured enough to stick in your head, but there's always something lurking underneath that keeps them from feeling safe or predictable. It's pop music for people who want their hooks served with a side of existential unease. Her active presence on TikTok, where she frequently goes live, and Instagram shows an artist comfortable engaging directly with fans while maintaining the mysterious edge that defines her music.

The move to work with Synthetic on Spellbook represents a natural next step. When you're producing everything yourself, you're limited by your own perspective. Bringing in someone else doesn't mean compromising your vision, it means having another set of ears to help realize it more fully. Based on what we've heard so far, that collaboration is paying off.

With Spellbook on the horizon, "Birthday Party Crash" feels like a mission statement. This isn't music trying to make you feel comfortable or celebrated. It's about acknowledging the weird, uncomfortable moments we all pretend aren't happening, and finding a strange kind of beauty in them. Sometimes the best party is the one that goes completely off the rails.

Connect with mermaidonmars on Instagram and TikTok.