SOJØURN ARE BACK!

SOJOURN are BACK! After a long hiatus from shows in 2021, Leighton Fairlie & SOJOURN are back playing at Raglan Yot Club (4th January 22') & Leigh Sawmill (8th January 22') for a Double Header to kick start their summers.

Frothing to get back on stage are Mangawhai Heads psych & surf-rock reggae-heads SOJØURN. The lads from a few clicks north of Auckland love a big show and are frothing to bring the vibes from one sun-drenched surf town to the next this summer. Their latest single "More" has been making waves across the motu, and the 6-piece are set to raise the roof for their first shows back in 2022.

Joining them for these back to back shows is ex-Mount Maunganui, now Otautahi local Leighton Fairlie will be bringing his fresh new tunes to treat the Raglan and Leigh crowds. Known for his smooth indie roots sounds blended with dub, electronica and bass, Fairlie will be bringing a full band and an arsenal of fresh new tracks mixed in with his tasty catalog of dubby bangers. The bro's are ON!!!!!!!

Along for the ride for both shows is DJ K!D BOOM playing some DnB / Doof to send the masses over the edge.

Tickets are available from Undertheradar.co.nz or check out our Facebook Events Page for details.

Ticketing Links:

Raglan Yot Club

Leigh Sawmill Cafe

BROWN SUGAR FACTORY 'HARANA SOSA'

Harana Sosa’ dropping 15th of December 2021 is the leading single from Brown Sugar Factory’s fiery new EP ‘Harana Sosa’. Harana is a fat, funk filled jam born from the rawness of the studio room. It has the ability to hook even the weary soul with its riff filled groove.

Breaking out of the COVID lockdown Brown Sugar Factory & fans can rejoice with a funk house track drawing inspiration from bands such as Disclosure, James Brown & Daft Punk. “Harana Sosa originated from a sample on the eve of lockdown comments lead singer Roberto Jatulan, “It is an excited funk filled tune written raw in the chaos of the world”.

Brown Sugar Factory is about to play mainstage at AUM festival on 30th of December to bring in the summer period.

Recorded at Ulberg Studios in Orakei & Engineered by Ul3berg (Mr 0600, Watson). Mastered at Studios 301 in Sydney by Leon Zervos (Muse, Rihanna, Maroon 5).

Harana Sosa fires an inherent drive to be part of the freedom in a summer cocktail. Brown Sugar Factory recently opened for NZ heavyweight Strangely Arousing alongside Skilaa in Auckland.

Since 2020 Brown Sugar Factory have been combining disco, world music, and funk influences with a house beat; creating tracks you can’t help but jump up and dance to. Their first single Palimos, combined with a series of colourful and inclusive gigs, have brought them a loyal following keen for more.

Brown Sugar Factory is the brainchild of Auckland-based DJ and producer Reid Ulberg and singer/songwriter Roberto Jatulan. Combining their Canadian and Filipino backgrounds with a classical education, these innovative and passionate musicians produce a sound that is unique yet immediately catchy. Following their wildly popular debut, Brown Sugar Factory’s second single Watermelancholy released in September and was immediately loved and shared by fans.

Brown Sugar Factory - ‘Harana Sosa’ Media Release - Page 2

Playing live, Brown Sugar Factory have the versatility to switch up their performance and tailor it to the venue and audience. They can play as a duo, energetic and crowd-building, or as a funky 5 piece, to lift the vibe even further. Combining the energy & experience of eclectic soul singer Phoebe Walsh (Kazia) and bassist/flautist Michael Anderson, (The Vibes) with the funk filled licks of seasoned guitarist Mitchell Goodfellow (Big Tasty). Together, these talented musicians complement Brown Sugar Factory perfectly,

adding live instrumentation over self-produced tracks with a combination of original songs and clever reworks of classic and modern hits. From soft emotional ballads to house dance parties, Brown Sugar Factory will liven any sized room and leave all ages with a night to remember.

Recently Brown Sugar Factory were invited to play a mainstage slot at the sold out AUM festival in Auckland's North Head for a 5,000+ strong crowd.

Two Christmas releases to end the year, for Loopy Tunes Music!

Sister duo, Leah and Siu, of Loopy Tunes Music, are finishing the year off with a couple of fun Christmas waiata for whānau!

"Christmas Kai", released on Monday, 13 December, is an upbeat, tuneful waiata that celebrates all the delicious food we love to eat here in Aotearoa, including lots of Pacific Island delicacies. All kai were suggested by Loopy Tunes fans, in a post on their socials. Featuring one each of their tamariki, Vaiuli and Olive, and awesomely put together by fellow Kiwi Kids Music artist, Levity Beet.

Whakarongo me titiro mai to the lyric video, here

Their second Christmas offering is a Tongan translation of a traditional carol. "Away In A Manger (Tongan Version)", released on Tuesday, 14 December, is an angelic, calming, lullaby-of-a-waiata, translated by their whaea, Tafoki Williams (nee. Tonga), and features guitarist Dru Sione on 12-string and Baritone guitar. Enjoy listening to it on all major music streaming platforms, this Christmas, and sing along to the lyric video, here

AWARD WINNING NZ ARTIST MUSIC WITH MICHAL RELEASES NEW ALBUM

‘Summer Days’ - the new album from popular New Zealand children's songwriter and performer
Music with Michal (Michal Bush) is out now!

This release follows her successful debut album ‘Can You Make Music?’ from last year which
saw her win ‘Best Children’s Song’ in the 2021 New Zealand Music Awards for ‘Brave’.
Summer Days features 13 original songs and has been produced by The Response - a
Christchurch based production duo who Michal also worked with on her previous award winning
music.
The album is made “with the whole family in mind” and celebrates “those special moments in
that life remind you the world is beautiful - like the perfect summer day!”

“I wanted to create an album that feels like summer - carefree, warm and full of wonder, love
and laughter!” Bush says
“Children have an incredible ability to make the smallest moment magical- whether it’s playing
hide and seek, dancing with wild abandon, chatting with the neighbour over the fence or giggling
at the moon being out in the daytime - when we let ourselves be present in these moments with
our kids - we remember life can be simply wonderful.”

The album- made with the help of NZ on Air- features fellow New Zealand children’s artists
Loopy Tunes Preschool Music and Levity Beet, as well as Australian group Tiptoe Giant’.
It also features Michal’s three daughters - Harper (9), Sadie(6) and Clementine(4) who provide
backing vocals and inspiration for the music.
“My girls are very much a part of Music with Michal - from the songwriting process to recording
all the way through to the millionth listen in the car during the mixing process” says Bush.
“I know I have a good song on my hands if I catch my children singing it to themselves”

SIT DOWN IN FRONT Announce New EP Fuelling My Rage

Today, Gisborne punk-rockers Sit Down In Front announce the release of a brand new EP Fuelling My Rage, set for release in January 2022 on Best & Fairest. Pre-order the EP here.

Tickets are on sale now for their hometown EP release show on January 21st at Gisborne's "home of good times" and the band's local haunt, Smash Palace. Tickets are available from Gisborne Boardriders, Parafed Gisborne and Midway Surf Lifesaving Club and online at https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/sitdowninfront.

In October, the band released their smash hit 'Pixie Caramel' featuring the legendary Tiki Taane. 'Pixie Caramel' is another day in the lives of these teenage punks, a fast and raw track about going to the corner dairy only to find out their favourite snack had sold out! The rebellious rockers know how to deliver a fast and upbeat punk rock anthem with genuine charm and a good sense of humour. This single followed the scorching slice of punk rock political commentary, 'Don't Drink Bleach', released in July 2021.

Both singles feature on the new EP, produced by Greg Havers (Manic Street Preachers) alongside three brand new stonking punk rock anthems! Everyone to the front! Pre-order the EP here.

Sit Down in Front's brand of rock is built on the foundations of classic punk. They successfully capture the essence and energy of the old while adding some scorching and youthful enthusiasm.

The three-piece is led from the front by frontman and lyricist Cory Newman, who uses a wheelchair due to his Cerebral Palsy. His energetic live performances have seen him likened to "a young Johnny Rotten". Talented guitarist Jackson Clarke and multi-talented self-taught drummer Rikki Noble complete the line-up.

Since forming in high school in January 2017, the Gisborne Punk-Rock band, have been impressing fans in Aotearoa and abroad. They self-produced their 2018 debut album Red Light Runner in the small-town of Wairoa, New Zealand, and after winning the 2019 East Coast Smokefree Rockquest regional final, they were placed third nationally. In 2020 they released their second album, Confessions Of A Pie Thief.

"For their ripsnorter sophomore release, the four-piece took over Roundhead Studios with a hand from hotshot producer Greg Haver resulting in some mind-melting riffage and bass harmony, playing off of every punchy lyric belted out by sixteen year old lead singer Cory Newman" -undertheradar.co.nz

"A bludgeoning blend of uncompromising rock and punk spirit" - Around The Sound

Over the years, the band has toured Aotearoa with Aussie shed-rockers The Chats, Australian rock 'n' roll icon Jimmy Barnes, and local heroes John Toogood, The D4 and Head Like A Hole.

In January 2022, the band will release their eagerly anticipated third major body of work titled, Fuelling My Rage, produced by Greg Havers (Manic Street Preachers).

MILD ORANGE ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM LOOKING FOR SPACE

Today, New Zealand indie dream-pop and internet cult band Mild Orange announce new album Looking For Space out Thursday February 10, via AWAL. This comes with a double-a-side release of their explosive new single 'What's Your Fire?' and hazy b-side 'Hollywood Dreams'. The nomadic quartet will also be heading halfway across the globe this coming January 2022 for their upcoming The Looking For Space tour across UK and Europe, USA and Canada.

'What's Your Fire?' - already a mainstay and fan favourite in the Mild Orange live set, bubbles and pulses with crystalline clarity and is a single with anthemic height beyond any the band has previously achieved. 'Hollywood Dreams' is a perfect accompaniment to 'What's Your Fire?' and joins the already released 'This Kinda Day' and 'The Time Of Our Lives' - a taste of what's to come on their highly anticipated third studio album, which if any of the four tracks are to go by is a strong one at that.

Of the single, frontman Josh Mehrtens shares: "For me, 'What's Your Fire?' came from a time in my life where I was trying to figure out who I am, or who the person I want to be is. It asks oneself some intense questions, though hopefully helps oneself find light in the idea that there is always something that you can do to improve yourself or the world around you - no matter how big or small."

'What's Your Fire?' was the first track recorded on Looking For Space. Despite it sounding like a stadium rock song it was mostly recorded in Barry (Tom's) family home lounge in Bannockburn (the most inland town in New Zealand) and also at Mehrtens' family home studio in Arrowtown. The track was too big of a sounding song for Mehrtens to manage producing in his bedroom mixing set-up to finish it off, so to get it to sound bigger than a small room, they took it to the infamous Roundhead Studios to engineer and boost the huge sound.

After spending two albums carefully organising the framed photos and applying an even layer of paint, Mild Orange felt the urge to tear apart the four walls that defined their bedroom pop sound, capturing the wilderness that lay beyond. And rather than be deterred from that goal by a pandemic and lockdown that left the New Zealanders stuck on their island, Mild Orange used that time to envision a new world.

True to the group's questing, nomadic form, Looking for Space was recorded in stretches over the last year, compiling sessions in beach houses, bedrooms and for the first time a proper recording studio. "This was our first time working on Mild Orange tracks in a premier studio, and having all that epic gear at our fingertips, coupled with having Paddy's (Roundhead Studios, Auckland) tech-wizardry engineering abilities on hand definitely jumped us up in quality and texture," Mehrtens says.

Midway through recording the album, Mehrtens sadly came down with pneumonia and pleurisy, a single breath capable of leaving him in excruciating pain. The experience not only changed the perspective of the rest of the record, but of Mehrtens' life. "That put me into some pretty dark spaces," he says. "But I'm an optimist, so I was searching for the beauty in the dark".

Looking For Space will be available digitally and on vinyl - to pre-order / pre-save - head here. The band will also be heading to the UK and Europe, USA and Canada this January 2022 for their The Looking For Space Tour. For details and ticket information please head to: mildorange.com. And also playing at New Zealand Festivals - Rockin Horse Coroglen and Tora Bombora Festival in January.

Mild Orange are made up of childhood mates, frontman/producer Josh Mehrtens and lead guitarist Josh Reid, with bassist Tom Kelk and drummer Jack Ferguson. Their internet-cult following has reached fans from Cairo to Cape Town, Lima to LA, Seoul to Sydney, London to Ulanbutar giving them close to 50 million YouTube views alone. Together they create energetic, summery psychedelic rock complete with compelling lyrics, and are known for their relaxed and buoyant sound. Over the recent months since releasing 'This Kinda Day', the first track off the new album they've received press coverage from the likes of Billboard, Monster Children, MTV, RAGE, Tone Deaf, Beat Magazine, Sniffers and Under The Radar.

Albi & The Wolves - A Little More Space Tour

Albi & The Wolves, and Looking For Alaska. Two homegrown kiwi folk bands who are ready to make like Rocket Lab out at Mahia, and launch fans into outer space. To do so, they have joined forces, and are thrilled to announce their joint summer tour, ‘A Little More Space’ - featuring their music that you know and love, but with more ambition, bigger venues, a bigger band, and maximum summertime vibes. Perfect for hitting that green light, shaking off the covid blues and starting 2022 off with a bang. 

‘A Little More Space’ will feature full sets from both groups, both with a full band of players behind them; as well as additional local support acts to be announced. The tour will be hitting all the best North Island summer hot spots, with shows in Whangarei, Leigh, Hamilton, Mt Maunganui, New Plymoouth, and Hastings. 

Most exciting of all, this tour will include a jaunt across the ditch to Tasmania, where both bands will be featuring at the illustrious Cygnet Folk Festival and three sideshows in Hobart, Copping and Moonah. 

Presale tickets are available now, so don’t delay - grab yours today and join Albi and The Wolves and Looking For Alaska for a show that is guaranteed to take you out of this world!

Cygnet Folk Festival 14th to 16th Jan, Cygnet (AUS)

MONA - Museum of Old and New Art 20th Jan, Hobart (AUS)

Copping Community Hall 21st Jan, Copping (AUS)

Moonah Arts Centre 22nd Jan, Moonah (AUS)

ONEONESIX 10th Feb, Whangarei

Leigh Sawmill 11th Feb, Leigh

Nivara Lounge 18th Feb, Hamilton

TOTARA STREET 10th Mar, Mt Maunganui (Tickets going on sale soon)

Mike’s Brewery & Bistro 11th Mar, New Plymouth

Mystery Venue 18th Mar, Hastings (To be announced later!)

Tickets: https://linktr.ee/albiandthewolves

Edie - Karnan Saba share lush and cinematic electronica single"A Stone's Throw"

Edie and Karnan Saba release lush, cinematic electronica single "A Stone's Throw" on Friday 10 December, alongside transfixing video featuring dancer Villa Junior Lemanu.

Edie (Anna Edgington) and Karnan are each accomplished music producers in their own right. They have a lengthy musical history together, starting off in 2012 as regular attendees at the infamous Paddy Fred and Pat Stewart's Fresh Produce gigs. Not long after this, Karnan went to Canada; Edie remained in New Zealand.

We can thank the pandemic for few things, but one of these is Anna and Karnan's reconnection in 2020, after Karnan returned to Wellington. They found synergy through their love of sound, and began sculpting and crafting evocative and otherworldly soundscapes. The two producers bounced ideas back and forth between each other, with one moment of musical creativity organically inspiring the next.

"A Stone's Throw" conveys the mood and the message of living in the world on autopilot, in a sleepily disengaged haze until someone from the next generation literally shatters that state of being. Through the depth of their collective love for soundscapes, Edie and Karnan have given life to the sonic spaces caught in the twilight of musical imagination.

"A Stone's Throw" video was choreographed, filmed and edited by Joshua Faleatua, featuring Villa Junior Lemanu. Anna says, "I knew Joshua was going to create the perfect dance piece for this tune. His pacing, sense of space and location, feeling and atmosphere are so in tune - I really want to work with him all the time."

"A Stone's Throw" will be released through Blue Riot Records, available on 10 December through all good streaming services.