Teen Band Borderline release debut track that gets you Spinning.

Mellow, catchy, and cool, Indie Pop band Borderline’s debut single Spinning about teen love showcases a sound beyond their years.

Auckland based and all under 17, Jackson Boswell, Sam Mandeno-Clay, Sam Tebbutt, and Matthew McFadden have played music together since they were in Primary School, except for lead vocalist Ben Glanfield who joined the ranks last year.

“We’re super excited for our debut release, Spinning. It’s one of the first songs we worked on together and is something we’re really proud of as a band, we can’t wait to play it live! To us, the track feels like something you’d listen to during summer with your mates, and a good one to blast on the car stereo,” says Jackson Boswell, drummer for Borderline.

Spinning is out now, the first of many new tracks, and perhaps new love, to come.

Link to ‘Spinning’

https://smarturl.it/borderlinespinning

https://www.instagram.com/borderlinemusicc/

https://www.tiktok.com/@borderlinemusicc

SOJØURN ‘CHASING SUNSETS’ - NEW SINGLE & VIDEO FROM THE FORTHCOMING ‘MYSTIC WAYS’ EP

Kiwi surf-rock six-piece SOJØURN deliver some seriously coastal vibes with the groove-infused new single ‘Chasing Sunsets’, out Fri 21 Jan on Meow. Complimented by a chilled-out video starring beachside hangs & coastal drives, ‘Chasing Sunsets’ brilliantly captures an endless summer mood. SOJØURN have been whipping up a storm on tour and digitally recently, winning over crowds & critics, with this single being their latest from the eagerly anticipated forthcoming EP ‘Mystic Ways’.

The critically acclaimed east-coast groovers are set to realise their potential with the new EP set for release on February 22, 2022. Produced by Connor Jaine of Mako Road, it’s a body of work that brilliantly captures their true sound, and showcases the band’s recent journey through change, adversity, loss and positive growth. Drawing on influences including Ocean Alley, Mild Orange and The Black Seeds, ‘Mystic Ways’ is a celebration of the good times; and a mature acknowledgement of how they got there. It’s the fresh soundtrack for summer, and exactly what we all need right now.

With youth on their side, SOJØURN have been earmarked by critics and fans as a band on the rise with lofty ambitions. Their joyfully cruisy debut Summer Tape EP (2019) received favourable airplay across their home country, with singles ‘Stand Up’, ‘How It Grows’ and latest ‘Saturday Sipping’ earning the band a fast-growing fanbase that is absolutely frothing for the next release. Alongside notable festival appearances incl Bay Dreams and Soundsplash, SOJØURN have shared stages with like-minded established artists including Mako Road, Summer Thieves, The Butlers and Sons of Zion.

Hailing from the sun-drenched surf-town of Mangawhai, NZ, SOJØURN are made up of members Isaac Hunter (Lead Vocals / Guitar) James Finlay ( Lead Guitar / BV) Jim Bokma (Drums) Tony Baker (Bass) Jacob O’Brien ( Saxophone / BV) and Elias Giles ( Keys).

RELEASE SCHEDULE – SOJØURN ‘Chasing Sunsets’ – single – out Fri January 21, 2022 ‘Mystic Ways’ – EP – out Fri February 25, 2022 ‘More’ – single – out Fri October 29, 2021

FATHOM RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM "The World To Breathe"

Fathom is the solo project of Nancy Howie, member of folk Trio Tweed.

A piano tuner by trade, Nancy embraced the abundance of time the 2020 lockdown offered by handcrafting bespoke instruments out of whatever materials she could find. Two hurdy gurdies, one lap steel, an abundance of horns / saxophones and a cello made from a fence post and tin can later, Fathom found herself with an entire album of songs defined by a unique soundscape.

 "The World to Breathe was intended as a summary of my experience of the pandemic…it morphed into a suite capturing the frenzy and chaos of the world before lockdown, the deafening silence of billions of people having their lives shrunk to fit within the walls of their homes, the anguish of being kept from seeing loved ones, and the mounting malaise at living through a global cataclysm. "

The album unfolded organically as 2020 progressed. “Covid-19 has brought great disruption to all our lives, and with it, a plethora of confusing emotions”. Nancy described the process of writing the album as “noisy journaling”, and that the pandemic provided “plenty of material to unpack”

Following a series of exhibitions and radio interviews, Nancy ran a successful givealittle campaign to fund mixing with Morgan of Depot Sounds. This unique time capsule of the 2020 experience is set for release in the summer of 2022.

“Instrument making with joyful irreverence” - RNZ

“infused with a lo-fi folk charm” - The May Magazine

“"I think the world could do with more people going back to first principles and build instruments from scratch" - Hugh’s Featured Tracks

INTRODUCING RUGBY PLAYER TURNED POP SINGER-SONGWRITER SAM HESELWOOD

Rugby player turned pop singer-songwriter, Sam Heselwood is a name to pay attention to. 

Sam Heselwood’s music is warm and intimate, showcasing a refreshingly authentic sense of vulnerability. Influenced by the likes of Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi, Sam Heselwood’s music is nothing short of breathtaking. Heselwood captivates his listeners with honest and relatable lyrics and his powerful voice. Exploring themes of family, love, and mental health Heselwood has the unique ability to leave the listener with goosebumps.

The definition of a humble kiwi lad, Heselwood is trying to break down boundaries through his music. Fighting the stigma that ‘men don’t cry’, Sam Heselwood isn’t afraid to expose his inner feelings to help others.

Growing up in the small rural town of Darfield, music didn’t come first for Heselwood. Encouraged by his primary school teacher Chrissy Badger, Heselwood developed a love for music.“I would run away every lunchtime to play sport and she would come out onto the field and make sure I practised. Little did I know she would be the spark of something I probably never would have pursued if I’d never gone through her program.” 

After taking time off music in high school to pursue Rugby, Heselwood picked up his guitar and penned his first song at age 19. Then at 21, he entered the Golden Guitar awards in Gore, in which he was a finalist for his song ‘High Off Love’. It wasn’t until he started writing his own songs that he fell in love with music completely. “I love writing because it’s a way to express what I’m thinking. I’m an overthinker and I get way too carried away in my thoughts” Sam says.

Sam went on to release his next single ‘Another One Too Young” in 2020 and a self-titled acoustic EP followed in 2021. He has since collaborated with DnB act CSM and appears on their album onesevenfour on a track called ‘Hold Me’. 

With a slew of singles already released, support from SOLE Music Academy and an EP expected this year, the future looks bright for Sam Heselwood.

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY

KILLLOANE 'LONG WAY UP'

From announcing the opening of the Loane Records studio for bookings, to now announcing the release date of Killloane’s new single ‘ LONG WAY UP ‘ set to release January 28TH

LONG WAY UP expresses how hard it is to be noticed in the music industry when you’re starting at the bottom but that didn't stop Killloane. Without being signed to a label and having no one to manage him Killloane co-founded  the independent record label Loane Records and through hard work, dedication, perseverance, and words that speak to the mind and soul Killloane is here to stay and clearly has story to tell. On LONG WAY UP Killloane speaks hard truths on so many levels that can be relatable to every single person.

After releasing a couple of singles, featuring on Zilla_’s album ‘Shadows” and reaching over 100,000 plays on Spotify from his latest single ‘Worth’ ft Zilla_ ,Killloane is back at it with his new single  ‘LONG WAY UP‘ set to release January 28th.

Since launching the label ‘Loane Records’ to help independent artist and featuring in multiple hits including ‘Worth’ and ‘In the air’ both reaching big numbers on Spotify   ,Killloane has been pushing his music to the next level showing that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.

Killloane hopes his truths, flow and raw emotion expressed through his music speaks to listener on many levels.

Killloane goes onto say that music helps so many people in different ways and through listening to great inspiring artist like Eminem, logic, Dr Dre and G eazy Killloane was able to able to create such a masterpiece that expresses the real struggles of being in the music industry.

Yumi Zouma Announce New Album Present Tense Out March 18 Share latest single 'In The Eyes Of Our Love'

Beloved New Zealand alternative pop band Yumi Zouma today announce their fourth studio album, Present Tense, due out March 18 on [PIAS] Australia, and share latest single ‘In the Eyes of Our Love’. 

Mixed by Kenny Gilmore (Weyes Blood, Sudan Archives), ‘In the Eyes of Our Love’ is the third single previewed off the upcoming Present Tense, following the previously released ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Give It Hell,’ which garnered praise from NME AU, The Partae, Happy Mag, received rotation adds across Double J, 2SER, Radio One Dunedin and was spun on triple j’s 2021 with Richard Kingsmill.

Throughout their fourth LP, which follows 2020’s acclaimed album Truth or Consequences, Yumi Zouma expand on their established dream pop sound with defiance and a palpable sense of urgency, drawing on collaboration to push the four-piece out of their comfort zone, looking to explore the extreme edges of their music, resulting in their most formidable release to date. 

Seemingly twice as fast as any prior Yumi Zouma single, the thrilling, lively ‘In the Eyes of Our Love’ stands closer to the classic rock strut of Dire Straits than the ethereal, understated aesthetics that the band has built their career on so far. Crashing in hard from the outset, drummer Olivia Campion’s pulsating backbeat sends the accompanying band into a buoyant revelry that holds and holds, only breaking upon arriving at the first bridge, when Christie Simpson sings: “But we won’t lose sight of what we said / I’ll sing from the dirt instead.”

Accompanying ‘In the Eyes of Our Love’ is the first in a trilogy of videos for Yumi Zouma’s upcoming singles helmed by director Alex Ross Perry, known for collaborations with Soccer Mommy, Sleigh Bells and Vivian Girls, as well as writing and directing a number of feature films, including 2018’s Her Smell.

On his approach to the project, Perry shares: "Agreeing to make three interconnected videos was something I should have thought about for longer than fifteen seconds before agreeing to it. The anxiety of conceptualizing a small story, that can be told without dialogue, and set to music, gripped me from the moment my video call with the band ended. Their thoughts were excellent, specific, and unachievable with the time and resources I would be able to pull together.”

“But I began to feel inspired by the concept of taking these vast ideas and situating them within a single location, transforming the aesthetic, visuals and mood to match the three different songs,” he continues. “My only chance for success was to rely heavily on a great cast and crew to create these spaces and film them in a way that felt consistently alive and unique. Fortunately for me, they all over delivered."

The theme of isolated togetherness and distant creativity has been a throughline for the band throughout their career. Originally formed in New Zealand, the members of Yumi Zouma now come together from around the globe: New York City (Josh Burgess - guitar, vocals), London (Charlie Ryder - guitar, bass, keys), Christchurch (Christie Simpson - vocals, keys) and Wellington (Olivia Campion - drums). And while you may assume that this global spread held their creative process in good stead for the realities of COVID-19 - the opposite proved to be true. 

Without looming tour dates driving them to release new music, the prolific band found themselves at a standstill. So they set a date. By September 1st, 2021, the album needed to be finished, regardless of whether they’d be able to tour it or even meet to record together. With a mix of remote and in-person sessions in studios in Wellington, Florence, New York, Los Angeles, and London, what began in fits and starts became a committed practice again as Yumi Zouma dug through demos from as early as 2018 to collaborate on and make relevant to the peculiar moment in time the band, and world, was experiencing. “The lyrics on these songs feel like premonitions, in some regards,” Simpson reflects. “So much has changed for us, both personally and as a band, that things I wrote because the words sounded good together now speak to me in ways I didn’t anticipate.”

Bringing in new collaborators from different disciplines and from around the globe, the band enlisted disparate friends to contribute pianos, saxophones, woodwinds, pedal steels and strings, multiple mixers in Ash Workman (Christine & The Queens, Metronomy), Kenny Gilmore and Jake Aron (Grizzly Bear, Chairlift), and recruited the mastering expertise of Antoine Chabert (Daft Punk, Charlotte Gainsbourg) for the first time. In the end, two years away from the road and the bustle of touring life proved beneficial for the group, affording a new appreciation for the friendship they’ve sustained and the opportunity an abundance of time off-cycle offered. “We used to run on adrenaline, and if a song wasn’t working we’d just nip it in the bud and move on. This process gave us the opportunity to really sit with songs and rethink them until they felt like they belonged in the collection,” Burgess says. 

There’s a defiance heard throughout Present Tense, a refusal to bend to what might seem fated, communicated not only through lyrics but in the boldness of these arrangements, metamorphosing between tracks without ever losing momentum. Dedicated to an embattled past, Yumi Zouma’s fourth album is the band’s offering to a tenuous future. “To 2020, and the memory of all that was lost,” they write in the album’s liner notes. “Kia Kaha.”

Present Tense by Yumi Zouma
is out March 18 on [PIAS] Australia

Preorder: https://yumi-zouma.ffm.to/present-tense-pv

ARJUNA OAKES 'AS I AM'

Arjuna Oakes long awaited EP Recovery Pt. 2 is on its way for release on February 4th, 2022 and the second single “As I Am” is out this Friday, January 14 following the first single ‘I Got Mine” which was released in December 2021.

“Watch out for a great singer from New Zealand called

Arjuna Oakes”

- Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6 Music)

Single: As I Am

Stripped back to just piano and vocals, ‘As I Am’ is Arjuna Oakes at his most vulnerable. Although the first verse was written back in 2018, the rest of the lyrics were improvised on the spot while recording this beautiful single. The lyrics, while improvised, are an honest representation of a person shedding their mask, and allowing others to see who they truly are. Arjuna’s voice beautifully morphs from raw low tones to haunting falsetto, that weave it’s way around an ever shifting piano backing, creating a performance that shows his full range as a singer, pianist and songwriter.

Recovery Pt. 2

‘Recovery Pt. 2 is the highly anticipated follow up to Arjuna Oake’s 2020 EP Recovery Pt. 1. Recorded at the same sessions as Recovery Pt. 1 back in February of 2020,  Recovery Pt. 2 continues delving into the same themes such as climate change, identity and the journey of healing, which are all themes that seem more timely today than when these songs were recorded. Largely performed live in studio by Arjuna and his band of talented young musicians, these songs are exploding with an intense youthful energy and feature a unique mix of creative songwriting and explorative improvisation. Recovery Pt. 2 provides an exciting climax to the themes and musical ideas introduced in ‘Recovery Pt. 1, and solidifies both records as an important piece in Arjuna’s discography.

About Arjuna

Arjuna Oakes is a singer-songwriter and producer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand). Following the release of his debut EP The Watcher in 2019, Arjuna has released another two projects both to widespread acclaim, 2020’s Recovery Pt. 1 and 2021’s First Nights. The latter is a collaboration with longtime friend and co-producer Serebii, released by LA-based record label Innovative Leisure (Badbadnotgood, Bambii). First Nights debuted at #5 on KCRW’s Top 30 Albums chart and has had extensive play on BBC6 and BBC1xtra.

“Soulful and sophisticated” - Under the Radar NZ

OLD SALTS 'BREATHER'

Old Salts are an alternative rock band who are set to leave an impression with the release of their debut single ‘Take a Breather’ due out on 21-01-2022.

The song will be one of four singles released off their forthcoming EP ‘Stories told by the Sea’.

‘Take a Breather’ is an enthusiastic drinking song which also references taking a break so there's a lot of space for interpretation of lyrics. ‘Take a Breather’ is seasoned with influences from Primus and Them Crooked Vultures and has more rawness and grit than their upcoming releases. Each of four songs on the upcoming EP fall within the parameters of alt rock, from serious to satire, moody rock ballads to angsty rock anthems. There is an assortment of goodies rich in vitamins to sustain any listeners tastes and dietary needs. ‘Take a Breather’ will wet the whistle and leave you wanting more.

Engineered and Produced by Graham Gilleberg at the beautiful Mount Tiger Studios in Whangarei.

“They are actually pretty good!”   - Olly Buckle

Alt rockers Old Salts hail from the shores of Bream Bay, Northland.

An "old salt" is defined as an old sailor or mariner who tells oral history and sea stories. While these boys don’t claim to be old salty sea dogs they all love spinning a yarn and share a connection with the ocean whether it's surfing, fishing or diving. They are brought together with a passion for playing music and want to create something a bit different.

Old Salts are made up of members

John Buckle (Lead Vocals / Guitar) Scott Brown ( Lead Guitar / BV) Marcus Jones (Bass / BV) Lucas Hargreaves (Drums / BV)

RELEASE SCHEDULE – Old Salts

‘Take a Breather’ – single – out 21-01- 2022

‘Stories told by the Sea’ – EP – out early 2022