Monthly Feature by Tim Gruar, Bridget Herlihy & Doug Peters.
Welcome to May, whānau. And it’s NZ Music Month. Get ready for a hive of activity, with many bands returning to our stages and plenty of lovely new releases.
The theme for this year’s NZ Music Month 2022 is ‘Level Up’, encouraging everyone in the music industry to proactively raise awareness of new emerging artists. We here Ambient Light love it too, when new artists bubble up to the surface and we are just as keen to help them ‘cross-over’ and become part of public consciousness. What is also exciting is the high proportion of wāhine putting out quality music – not just this but every month! This has been a growing trend for some time. Here’s hoping the industry recognise these fabulous wāhine for their talents and show them the respect and pay them the credit they so richly deserve.
Finally, thanks to going orange we can finally have Record Store Day again. This year we had a few bands rockin’ it out amongst the stacks and shelves and promoting their albums. In Welly, we saw Luke Buda, End Boss and Vera Ellen, those of us in Auckland saw Reb Fountain, DBLDBL and Erny Bell – all performing with a smidge of social distancing and definitely no crowd surfing across the countertops. Well not just yet.
So, with that in mind, this month’s Singles Club selection has a laser sharp focus on Kiwi sounds from new and established artists. So, enough blah-blah, people. Time to rev up your turntables…
Marlon Williams – ‘My Boy’
Undeniably one of Aotearoa’s most beloved singer-songwriters, Marlon Williams is back with the irresistibly catchy and uplifting tune ‘My Boy’. His first new solo track since 2018’s ‘Make Way For Love’, Williams explains ‘My Boy’ is “a pop song with a Māori folk strum… buoyed by its own sailing rhythm and lightness of phrase”. The quirkiness of the accompanying music video (directed by Martin Sagadin and Williams) is equally joyful, and guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
Plum Green – ‘Here We Go’
“A siren trapped in a mortal body; Green’s music often harbours a razor-sharp edge; it’s provocative in nature just as she is.” – Sarah Kidd
Born in Brixton, grown in Aotearoa, and currently livening in Melbourne, Plum Green is a woman of many worlds. Musically she resides between the living and the ethereal, weaving her moody, atmospheric blend folk, grunge, goth, and post-rock with her dark lyrical poetry. Her most recent album, ‘Somnambulistic’ is a delicious collection of dark textures juxtaposed with luscious, dark literature informed by fairy tales, dreams and nightmares.
This self-made video comes from that album, a slo-mo grainy offering that ambles, drunk-like through the conscious, barely there. Buffering Green’s wispy vocal delivery is the aching strains of the Silo Quartet – violins and violas floating on the air like a sinister graveyard mist. Plum calls this “my best representation of feeling hopeless but trying to imagine something better.”
Mozie – ‘Not Done Loving’
Recipient of last year’s NZ On Air New Music Pasifika funding, Moana Leota (aka Mozie, a nickname gifted to her by her Grandfather) whakapapas to Samoa and the Waikato but now calls Pōneke home. Coming from a family of singers, MOZIE’s first professional work was at the age of 11 when she became the voice of the new Interislander commercial, followed by the Tip Top Real New Zealand Summer commercial.
A quick internet check reveals time on the stage and a qualification in commercial music and a degree in Musical Theatre. It’s during that time she met her friend Hunter Paranihi, who she co-wrote this song, her debut release with. She describes it as a song about “being in love with the right person at the wrong time”.
‘Not Done Loving’ was recorded and mixed at Surgery Studios with Lee Prebble and mastered by Mike Gibson at Munki Music. It also features MOZIE’s band – Hunter Paranihi, Ato Bado, James Illingworth and Johnny Lawrence. Credit where it’s due should also go to videographer Lilian Pang and production manager Anna Wooles for the lush scenes on this clip.
Jenny Mitchell – ‘Lucy’
This is the third single from Jenny Mitchell’s forthcoming album ‘Tug of War’.
Produced by Matt Fell, her debut full length album takes a deep and emotional dive into matters of the heart and soul. She may describe herself as unapologetically Country, but her music has a much wider appeal than just one genre. She’s a story teller and an advocate for wāhine everywhere, as defined by her previous single ‘Trouble Finds Girl’, a duet featuring Tami Neilson. The album’s title hints at the turmoil at the heart, drawing inspiration from old-timey country and dark folk mountain music – think Emmylou Harris, Kasey Chambers and Jason Isbell.
Tami Neilson – ‘Beyond the Stars feat. Willie Neilson’
Tami Neilson’s ‘Beyond the Stars’ (co-written with Delaney Davidson) is a somber and mournful listen, a drop in anticipation of her upcoming fifth album ‘Kingmaker’. After her dad passed in 2015, she felt compelled to document her grief in a song. Meanwhile, Willie Nelson was going through his own grieving process, following the death of his sister Bobbie.
Making music with her idol was definitely one of Tami’s career highlights, she’s dedicated the accompanying video to her father, Willie’s sister and Delaney’s father. Tami even went to Luck, Texas to Willie Nelson’s Ranch earlier this year and stayed at his property, performing the song live with him. The video, shot by Tami’s brother reveals all the emotion of the song, done with very little post production needed to capture the raw emotion. Better grab a box of tissues for this one.
Gramsci – Heaven In A Wildflower
Both hypnotic and alluring, ‘Heaven In A Wildflower’ is one of three tracks from the latest Gramsci LP ‘The Hinterlands’ to feature on ‘Here’, the first of two short companion films for the album. A collaboration between renowned director Richard Bell and Paul McLaney, ‘Heaven In A Wildflower’ explores the vastness of the emotional interior, and is as stunning visually as it is sonically.
Wiri Donna – ‘No Follow Through’
Rising indie music star Wiri Donna recently dropped this blaster from her upcoming debut EP, ‘Being Alone’. She’s now due to release a second single ‘ Dream Of Me’. Both have been worrying the alt radio charts with a jangly rock feel.
Listeners will be surprised to learn that this singer/songwriter (known to her mum as Bianca Bailey) started off as a folkie, but after extensive touring and supporting heavy hitters such as The Beths and Soaked Oats she’s imbibed from the cup of rock and indie pop, and is all the better for it.
Chelsea Jade – Best Behaviour
Everyone’s favourite techo-sweetheart is back with another single from her new album, ‘Soft Spot’, now out. Revealing more mouth interiors than anyone should ever need, the anarchic, quirky video co-stars was co-directed by Jade and New Zealand comic legend Rose Matafeo. and exudes a coolness synonymous with Jade’s work.
Equally cool is the music, infused with a soothing, magnetic beat and charming, ironic lyrics – “Let’s party like I don’t have a part of me to lose / Let’s party like you don’t want a part of me.” Adding to the name drops on this one is longtime friend Lorde, who’s popped in to add her own tonsils to the tune. Did we mention how cool this tune is?
Te Kaahu – Waikato
This single comes from a personal project by critically acclaimed singer-and-songwriter Theia.
The project features music composed by Theia (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Tīpa) in te reo Māori, and produced by the award-winning Jol Mulholland. The album TE KAAHU O RANGI will be an immersive experience, in which Theia’s ethereal and dreamy vocals take centre stage against a backdrop of nostalgic production. Using kupu whakarite (metaphor), pepeha (sayings) and whakataukī (proverbs), Theia weaves together a magical tapestry of lyricism and sound, which pays tribute to her tūpuna wāhine (female ancestors).
Sandy Mill – Socials
If a bit of a boogie’s what you are after, then dial up this one. Yes, folks, Sandy Mill is back, releasing her released the video for her track ‘Socials’.
The Auckland-based Ngāti Porou soul sister sets the bar high with ‘Socials’ – a funk-fuelled, hip-hop shuffle-groove with touches of gospel disco, guaranteed to get heads nodding and butts shaking.
End Boss – Punished
Yes, we know. This track has been out for a little while but has slipped under the radar. Last Saturday we dropped into Rough Peel Records and was blown away by a live performance from this Te Whanganui-a-Tara four piece (vocalist E.J. Thorpe, drummer Nathan ‘Nato’ Hickey – also of Beastwars and guitarist/cartoonist legend Greg Broadmore and Christian Pearce – who moonlight with Ghidoragh).
Their debut ‘They Seek My Head’ dropped on all formats, including flash pink vinyl, on April 8th, preempted by this single and video drop ‘PUNISHED’. Directed and edited by Hickey the ethereal, supernatural visuals are a perfect summary of the band’s self imposed epic grandeur washed with doomy riff-fuelled anthems. The song, if you can decipher the lyrics explores “the struggles of the mind.”
Rory Noble – ‘What If I Can’t feat. Mikey Dam’ (Witters Remix)
Sidling into the EDM corner, Tamaki Makaurau based musician Rory Noble with a fiery remix of his song ‘What If I Can’t (feat. Mikey Dam)’ mixed up by people’s favourite Witters, who adds a bit of his own unique drum’n’ bass spin.
The original single dropped back in January as the third taster his forthcoming debut EP ‘Where do we go when the World Ends?’ The song explores the dynamic of a relationship between two people – one having a hard time with work and life, and the other who is doubting themselves when it comes to what to do or say, but knows they want to make it right. All wrapped up into a dance hall banger that doesn’t allow for sitting still. No way, no how. Watch this one, people, he’s going places!
Liv Tennet – ‘I’m Already Gone’
Prolific actor, dancer and musician Live Tennet has recently released her debut single ‘I’m Already Gone’. A dreamy, melodic pop track, its cheery sound is contrasted against more sombre lyrics about struggling to help someone who won’t help themselves, and knowing when to walk away.
Tennet comments “I like the juxtaposition of an upbeat melody and instrumental paired with slightly heavy material – I wanted to create something people could dance to, even if dancing is the last thing they feel like doing.”
Slimivich – Desert Shimmer
Last, but certainly not least we have the Ōtautahi experimental hip-hop project Slimivich dropping their debut single ‘Desert Shimmer’.
Shot and edited by fellow Christchurch creative Kit French, this video mirrors the contrasting minimal percussive verses and saturated synth filled chorus by floating Slim in an equally sparsely lit, near monochromatic void only to explode in colour and projection, Slims roiling performance set against imagery of war and conflict his pointed lyrics rail against.
Yes this is hip hop, but not like your cool cousin listens to – fans of both Skinny Puppy and Wu-Tang will both be well served here.
So, whānau, there we have it. The fourth Singles Club for the year. We’ve tried to add a bit of everything. But, as is the way, we always miss something, so we’d be keen to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Have you heard a new track this month that needs to be bought to our attention? Tell us all about it in the comments below, and we’ll see you all with another instalment next month!
If you enjoyed this content, please consider donating towards the running of Ambient Light, covering expenses and allowing us to expand the coverage you love by visiting our PressPatron page.