Alice Merton

Early life

Alice Florence Clarissa Merton was born on 13 September 1993 in Frankfurt, Germany to a German mother and an Irish-born father. Merton's family moved frequently due to her father's job as a mining consultant. When she was three months old, Merton moved to Connecticut. Shortly thereafter, they relocated to Oakville, Ontario, Canada where she was raised until the age of thirteen, learning classical piano and singing. Her family then relocated to Munich. Merton's return to Germany prompted her to learn German which enabled her to speak with her German grandmother whom she had only seen annually growing up. While in Germany, Merton wrote her first song and attended a German-language high school before graduating and moving to the United...

No Roots

"No Roots" is the debut single by the German-British-Canadian singer and songwriter Alice Merton. Merton co-wrote the song with producer Nicolas Rebscher.

The song was released in Europe through Paper Plane Records on December 2nd, 2016 and in the United States by Mom + Pop Music on 2 February 2018.

Writing

After moving from Canada to Germany, Merton wrote her first song, "Little Lighthouse", a song "about finding my way back home", she told Billboard. Moving a total of 12 times in 24 years inspired her to write the song. "No Roots" came together while she was visiting her parents in England. "I got to a point where I was feeling quite lost. So I decided to write a song that would make me feel better", she explained.

Release and promotion

The original release date of the single, "No Roots" was scheduled for 18 November 2016 but was delayed until 2 December 2016. In the UK, Merton was part of the BBC Introducing radio programme on 18 March 2017. She appeared on television, at prime time in the ProSieben show, Schlag den Henssler. On 9 February 2018, she also appeared for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performing "No Roots". Later, Merton featured on the Viva Top 100 and VIVA elevator music. Beginning in May 2017, "No Roots" is used as the soundtrack for an official commercial of Vodafone Germany. On 12 April 2018, Merton performed the song live during the German Echo Music Prize.

Critical reception

Mike Jones of WWDC (FM) exclaimed that "No Roots" is "the start of greatness". The song received a similar reception on WGN-TV, with WGN Music Producer Tom Barnas claiming that Merton "slayed it". Hype Machine and music blogs positively received Merton's single, "No Roots". According to Nielsen Music, in the United States, the song had been streamed 922,000 times as of August 2017. Eleanor Pettipher of Fortitude Magazine wrote that "track is kept fresh and catchy by the undulating baseline [sic] and backing vocal emphasis on 'roots'". Front View Magazine remarks that with success, the song "seems to sum up the life of the English/German singer". Matthew Kent of The Line of Best Fit remarks that the song is "brought together perfectly by...