Lisbon-born, London-based songwriter Maripool (moniker of songwriter Natacha Simões) announces the forthcoming release of her debut album Rotten Luck, an introspective body of work that captures the complexity of identity, memory, and return. Blending shoegaze and alt. indie, the record sees Simões pushing beyond the boundaries of previous EPs into something more expansive, collaborative, and emotionally direct.

Maripool shares ‘Crossing’. Inspired by the bridge between Lisbon and Almada, the single reflects on Simões’ childhood and family.  “This song is inspired by a bridge that connects Lisbon to Almada” she says. “My favourite memories as a kid are of crossing that bridge with my parents on a hot summer day, because it always meant we were going somewhere nice. The room where I did the residency overlooked this bridge, and looking at it every day brought back so many memories of my upbringing, my mum and dad, and all those times we crossed the bridge.”

Rotten Luck was written during a month-long residency in Lisbon in January 2025, and shaped by isolation as much as reconnection. Set within a decaying fisherman’s building across the river – a sparse room with a broken window, dripping ceilings, and no Wi-Fi – the environment forced a stillness that defined Simões’ writing process. Days were often spent in silence, watching the river or writing in bursts, while evenings brought a return to the city and a reconnection with a past life.

This duality sits at its heart. Across the album, Maripool explores displacement, migration, and the tension between past and present. Having left Lisbon as a teenager, returning to the city became a confrontation with identity – not just who she had become, but who she had once tried to leave behind. As she puts it, the album reflects “the process of reconnecting with a part of myself that never fully left… confronting who I am when everything external falls apart.” The album’s title, taken from one of the songs written during the residency, encapsulates this emotional landscape; a quiet reckoning with past missteps and the search for self that followed.

Rotten Luck:

1. Glue
2. Real
3. Favourite
4. Crossing
5. Lucky Stars in The Sky
6. Close
7. Little Bones
8. Alone Tonight
9. Stuck