Spdrtwnbby announces new single ‘Back to Self’ ft Jarna
After a period of reflection, Avondale’s Spdrtwnbby (pronounced spider town baby) returns with ‘Back to Self’ featuring Jarna.
Produced by big al. and mixed and mastered by Jarna, ‘Back to Self’ is a hypnagogic mirage of neo soul, R&B and art-pop, elegantly dressed in oneiric symbolism and poetic metaphors straight out of the South Pacific. For anyone who’s ever spent too long in a dream that didn’t quite sit right, before finding a way forward, there’s a sentiment to hold close here.
“This song highlights turning 25 and experiencing the lightbulb moment of realisation that choosing myself and taking care of myself are the keys to functioning at my best. ‘Back to Self’ is about giving yourself the grace to return to who you are and the things you love.” - Spdrtwnbby
Set against smooth Rhodes, sunrise guitar figures, and a head-nod drum machine groove, Spdrtwnbby and fellow singer-songwriter and producer Jarna accept the things they cannot change before basking in the reflected light as they choose themselves. “So much I could do or say / But that won’t change the way it plays out.”
‘Back to Self’ is accompanied by a gorgeously shot and framed music video directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, the powerhouse force behind the acclaimed STILL HERE documentary series. Tuiburelevu was supported on the shoot by producer duo ‘Afa (Selu-Kian Lealiifano-Faletoese and Claire Patolo), Taute Vaai (still photography) and Ralph Brown (director of photography), who helped realise the video’s fitting sensibilities.
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About Spdrtwnbby
Spdrtwnbby is a Samoan singer-songwriter and producer from Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa. Raised in the multicultural suburb of Avondale, her music draws from the rich traditions of jazz, soul and R&B, weaving them into a braided narrative equally informed by diasporic Pasifika culture and history, pop sensibilities, and her love of contemporary visual arts. In her work, she explores what belonging can look, sound and feel like, while considering what it means to be part of Moana Oceania as a whole.
After completing a Bachelor of Music at the University of Auckland and taking part in Tongan producer SFT’s Sample Sessions at Four Shells Kava, Spdrtwnbby spent 2023 and 2024 releasing a series of solo and collaborative singles alongside Jarna, big.al, SoulChef, StephPockets, Romiin, and Lepani. In 2025, she was named an artist-in-residence at Wheke Fortress’s Coconut Clouds Studio, an indigenous-run music studio in Onehunga, for Pasifika and Māori artists.