“Down to Chaos” is a high-energy electronic collaboration between established producer MissB and rising Māori queer artist Ardon England—a track born from contrast, connection, and transformation. Created during a time of loss, change, and creative reawakening, the instrumental marked a powerful return to form for MissB.
After emerging in 2022, Wairarapa-raised, Pōneke-based Samoan artist MOZIE has returned this New Zealand Music Month to stake her claim in Aotearoa’s R&B scene with a vibey new tune, ‘Here We Go Again’. Smooth and slow-burning R&B-pop, ‘Here We Go Again’ showcases the strength and beauty of MOZIE’s voice and her relatable and honest lyricism that hits the listener straight in the heart.
Fresh from their induction into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame | Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa at the 2025 APRA Silver Scroll Awards, iconic New Zealand alt-country band The Warratahs are set to release their evocative new single, “Quicksilver Days,” on 23 May. The release follows the band’s appearance as special guest performers at this year’s Country Music Honours on 22 May in Gore, where songwriter and frontman Barry Saunders is also a finalist for the prestigious MLT Songwriting Awards with Quicksilver Days.
Claudia Robin Gunn is celebrating NZ Music Month with a new song for tamariki, and the whole whanau – her latest single ‘Shake It Out (No Worries)’ This track is a joyful jam for kids and their grown-ups to sing, talk, and dance out anxiety. Less Worrier, more Joy Seeker is the intention. A musical antidote for anxiety, and a soundtrack to help bring joy, fulfilment, understanding, friendship, kindness, and positivity into our lives.
Join Greta O’Leary (Tāmaki Makaurau/AKL) and Neive Strang (Ōtepoti/DUN) for an evening of indie folk music as they perform their most recent releases, River Dark and Find Me in the Rabbit Hole. Greta will be accompanied by guitarist/vocalist Will McGillivray, and Neive, by guitarist/vocalist Kiera Wallace.
Ben Chavasse will stage a return this New Zealand Music Month, releasing ‘Sitting Beside’ as the first single since his debut 2025 album Boxing. The indie-folk musician, who is based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, says this single is the beginning of a new act.
Liberty is back with her new single Waiting, out today. Known for writing honest, emotional songs about growing up and heartbreak, this one shows a different side. It’s not about losing someone or things falling apart. It’s about the weird feeling of finding something good and being amazed when it sticking around.
After more than a decade as one of Aotearoa’s most beloved independent music festivals, The Others Way will not return in 2026 or beyond. Organisers Banished Music say the decision comes after years of mounting financial pressure, rising industry costs and an increasingly unstable live music & funding landscape, making the festival no longer sustainable to deliver.
A new waiata from Te Karanga Trust rising artists, Revolution, has been released to mark Ara Taiohi Youth Week 2026 (18–24 May) — a nationwide moment recognising the impact, creativity, and leadership of rangatahi across Aotearoa. Revolution stands as Youth Week in action, demonstrating what can happen when young people are trusted to lead, supported to create, and given the space to express themselves authentically.
Bring your people, your friends, your whānau — and be part of something special. For audiences across Hawke’s Bay—from the arts community to iwi and whānau—this is more than a concert. It’s a chance to come together, to feel something real, and to experience music that connects deeply to culture, identity, and shared stories.
Hannah Virk’s EP Love Watches presents love songs in four different forms, likened to examining love from four sides of a prismatic cube. Which would you choose? The bold and daring Love Storage, set to an entrancing beat, the classic romantic Love Later with sweeping tones of the electric guitar or the upbeat dream pop which permeates her debut album Upstairs/Downstairs in Need You PtII.
Marking her first collaboration, Bengali-NZ singer-songwriter Sabreen reimagines her 2025 song for Palestine ‘The End’ with an Arabic twist, featuring local Palestinian activist and artist Rana Hamida, as she sets sail for Gaza on the second Global Sumud Flotilla.
After hitting #1 with both singles on the Top 10 95bFM, topping the RadioScope Alt charts and Student Radio charts, Te Whanganui-a-Tara’s crooked alt-country-rock Menzies release their highly-anticipated part-concept debut album + vinyl pressing - ‘Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm’, out today, and announce a full NZ tour in July and August.
Ōtautahi-based Indie-folk musician Just Janie is entering a new era with her debut album Mythology of the Girls. A reaction to nostalgia through a modern lens, the album pays homage to the folk scene of the late sixties and early seventies and deconstructs the rose-tinted perspective for the era where women faced a myriad of societal limitations.
Te Whanganui-a-Tara’s BADTAB are carving out their own kaleidoscopic corner of the music world. Weaving together synthesisers and swirling guitar strums with rock-inflected, jazz inspired drum beats, BADTAB creates a unique and refreshing sound. The neo-psychedelic project of Ethan Downing (Vox & Gat), Hamish Mckinley (Drums), Manaaki Tibble (Bass), Kahukuranui Hunter-brown (keys) and Louis Nixon (synths), has been turning heads since their formation in 2022, quickly establishing themselves as one of Wellington’s exciting emerging acts.
WHO SHOT SCOTT reasserts his presence as a genre-blurring hip-hop artist and producer on ‘PEAKED IN HIGH SCHOOL’ – a high-octane, UKG-laced cut that signals a pivotal turning point in his forthcoming debut album HAIRY.
Aotearoa-based Irish musician Dónal Gunning is quickly emerging as one of the country’s top-tier talents. Following the viral success of his most recent track Oven, Dónal is setting aside the bass, and picking up his trusted six-string to deliver an acoustic single.
Following the release of her latest single 08:30 (Peace of Mind), Brazilian-born Aotearoa artist Maria Clara releases the official music video today, expanding the song’s message of self-focus into a playful visual narrative. This video is also being premiered on Juice TV, marking its broadcast debut.
Ella Pollett is one of Aotearoa pop music’s most exciting new voices and she’s kicking off New Zealand Music Month with a bang - her new single ‘A Name I Knew’. The young singer and songwriter has been making waves in her hometown of Napier for a few years now. But it was her NZ on Air funded single ‘Losing My Mind’ - released in October last year - that drew nationwide attention and saw her topping the Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles chart.
Critically acclaimed singer and songwriter Mel Parsons has today announced her seventh studio album, CASTLE HILL, set for release on August 7. The news comes alongside her latest single, the emotive new ballad ‘Grain By Grain’
To kick off NZ Music Month, Maria Clara releases her first single of the year through DRM today: Friday 1st May. Blending indie pop with jazz influences, “08:30 (Peace of Mind)” reflects on the importance of self-prioritising and learning to protect one’s energy.
After more than a decade of live performance, refining their sound and connecting with audiences across Aotearoa, Hamilton-based sibling duo ZENTARGE return with their latest single, “Life of a Mischief,” out today. Blending contemporary R&B and reggae with a strong dancehall influence, “Life of a Mischief” delivers a playful, late-night energy grounded in real-life experience.
Midwave Breaks know a thing or two about time — it's the heart of their new single, and they’re choosing their moment well, releasing A Thousand Years today to celebrate NZ Music Month with something positive, hopeful, and built to last. The song is an upbeat, anthemic reflection on long-term love — not the falling kind, but the kind that's already been everywhere and chosen to stay.
Following the breakout success of their single “Where Do You Run To?” - which spent nine consecutive weeks as the #1 rock song on New Zealand radio charts - The Response returns with their powerful new track, “Hollow Hour.” The release arrives on the heels of a successful Australian tour in February, playing packed out venues while supporting Transvision Vamp, expanding their reach across the Tasman.
New Zealand-formed South for Winter, the internationally-touring folk-rock duo renowned for their enchanting melodies and introspective lyricism, has just won the Indie Acoustic Project (IAP)’s “Album of the Year” and “Best AAA Album” for 2024-2025 with their independently-released concept album, Of Sea and Sky.
ZOË VERA is a courageous and resilient woman, and her debut EP LIVE HARDER is testament to the profound well of quiet strength she drew on to survive and overcome trauma - so that she could emerge, against the odds, a stronger and more visible version of herself.
Baby Heavyweight, born in a kitchen in Switzerland, is Delaney Davidson’s 11th solo album. Somewhat more groovy than his previous releases, this is the second album he has made with Merk (Mark Perkins). Building on the smooth depth of the previous album “Out Of My Head”, and taking it into a new realm of story telling and emotive music.
Self-producing Aotearoa indie pop/rock darling Jessica Leigh delivers her second single for 2026 - Dream Girl - from her forthcoming five-track EP I WANNA BE A STAR, due for release this June. Co-written and produced by Leigh alongside Jacob Brown (Muroki, ratbag), and mixed by Noema Te Hau III, Dream Girl is an irresistibly catchy pop/rock cut that leans into Leigh’s signature storytelling and tongue-in-cheek lyricism.
Following the release of their debut collaborative single, Wellington artists Will McClean & Young Gho$t return with “No Giving Up” releasing today. Written and performed by both artists, with production from McClean, “No Giving Up” carries a more direct and resolute energy.
Fresh off a meteoric rise that has cemented their status as Aotearoa's hardest-working blues-band, electrifying trio BB & THE BULLETS are thrilled to announce their highly anticipated second album, WRONG SIDE OF THE RIVER is out today.
