Barry Saunders and The Warratahs release new single and video - Silver Train

When The Warratahs went into the studio to record their new single "Silver Train”, it was the last time the band would play together with drummer of 20 years, Micheal Knapp.

He passed away unexpectedly a few days later.

“We had all been together for over 20 years, and this was wrenching blow, very unexpected. However, we decided we wanted to release this as a tribute, and to help us say goodbye to him” ( Barry Saunders)

36 years ago The Warratahs played, what turn out to be, the first of many nights at Wellington’s Cricketers Arms Hotel. The band quickly had an audience and they also found a sound of their own with a stripped back band playing a brand of country/ folk with the fire of 50’s style rock and roll.

Based around Barry Saunders voice and songs and Nik Brown’s ability to set the music alight with his violin, this has remained the landscape of the Warratahs sound.

To date, the band have released 9 Studio albums, which include some of New Zealand’s most loved classic songs. Songs that became the forerunners to the Americana sound that is so popular in New Zealand today.

Listen to “ Maureen” and “Hands On My Heart”

The Warratahs current line up is:

Barry Saunders, Nick Brown, Nick Theobald and Alan Norman

Silver Train was recorded at Massey Studios, Wellington. Engineered by Mike Gibson.

Filmed at Loho Studios Christchurch.

The Warratahs are part of The Gore Country Music Club’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations,

Playing at the Gore Town and Country Club Oct 20th.

Tickets Here

Find The Warratahs : Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | Facebook| Bandcamp

Read about The Warratahs on Audioculture - By Kerry Doole

Challenging the norm Ezra Phoenix releases gorgeous new RnB pop song + video ‘FOMO’

Porirua-based Samoan artist Ezra Phoenix has today released his gorgeous, and fearless, new RnB pop single + video ‘FOMO’ - and you’ll have FOMO (fear of missing out) if you miss this!

Listen to ‘FOMO’ HERE

From the moment you hear Ezra’s powerful voice and warm harmonies, you’ll be hooked on ‘FOMO’. An impressive artist with a confident sound, Ezra Phoenix is passionate about promoting Samoan language/culture and normalising gender and sexuality narratives within Pāsifika communities.

“‘FOMO’s about a boy obsessing over another boy he just met,” says Ezra, “but because of societal pressures, he’s not able to express his feelings out loud.

“I’m now writing from a place of fearlessness, seeking to challenge expectations placed on Pacific Island boys about exploring their sexuality. Expectations from family, the church and community, all centre around the heterosexual norm of being masculine and forming relationships with the opposite sex. These expectations leave no room for one to explore and discover their sexuality or express their identity safely and without judgment or being ostracised. These expectations perpetuate toxic masculinity, increase anxiety and loss of self, and ultimately cause internal suffering for young boys who feel trapped under these societal pressures within Pacific Island communities. Sexuality is individual, unique, special, and is part of our identity.”

‘FOMO’ was expertly recorded and mixed by producer Toby Lloyd at Tiny Triumph Recordings and mastered by Chris Chetland at KOG Studios. It was created with the support of NZOA Funding.

Also being released at  7pm October 21 is the ‘FOMO’ music video. Filled with Pacific iconography and symbolism, the use of traditional and contemporary Samoan costume and ceremonial items, the video is calling for more awareness and acknowledgement of LGBTQI+ individuals and their experiences within Pacific Island communities.

Watch the ‘FOMO’ video HERE

Imagined by Ezra, the video was brought to life by Studio Halfgray’s Ben Stewart and William Cho; set designer Daniel Kingston and production assistant Tasha Tziakis; and three beautiful contemporary and traditional Samoan costumes designed and styled by Masi Measina’s Masi Smith.

‘FOMO’ is a stunning song with a powerful message. Don’t miss out - find, follow and listen to Ezra Phoenix now!

1 Drop Nation announces long-awaited debut album + releases feel-good banger ‘Runaway’

Ōtautahi six-piece 1 Drop Nation have today released their feel-good summer single ‘Runaway’ and announced the date for their long-awaited, much-anticipated debut album.

‘Runaway’ is about getting away with the one you love, and it’s an absolute banger. It’s a song that brings all the good vibes, hooking you in for a sing-along. It’s set to be a summer hit. Following on from singles ‘The Children’ and ‘Groove Show’ - this is the final teaser before the Debut Album drops on 1 December.

“Life is a whirlwind and sometimes we forget to take a minute and enjoy the company of who we are doing life with,” says lead singer Kanei Johnson (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu). “This song is about getting away with that special someone and revitalising the love that brought you together in the first place - ‘Let's forget all the troubles and worries and just do us’ We just want to create some real feel-good music that helps people connect to the songs and the lyrics. We all need a break sometimes, right?”

1 Drop Nation have been working on their album for the past year at Surgery Studios with Dr Lee Prebble - and going off their three releases so far - it’s going to be a go-to album for summer 22-23! Lucky Christchurch audiences are going to be treated to the album live at this year's ZM Electric Avenue - which includes some of Aotearoa music’s biggest names.

Since coming on the scene, 1 Drop Nation have played some epic festivals, completed a national tour, and supported some of Aotearoa’s finest acts. Band Members: include Marc (drums), Dru (bass, backing vocals), Derin (keyboards, backing vocals / Nga Tai Ki Torere), Paerau (guitar / Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa, Ngā Puhi), Burke (guitar / Ngā Puhi, Te Ātiawa) and Kanei (lead vocals / Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu). This group of musicians make music that brings people together, so join the movement and follow 1 Drop Nation!

LISTEN HERE

WATCH

FIND 1 DROP NATION

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY

Bad1 new single press release

Otara’s very own Bad1 has released his latest single ‘Caught In The Mix’, a heavy hitting drill song produced by Sprout and NTGotBeats. Sampling Charlie XCX’s ‘Good Ones’, creating a juxtaposition with Bad1’s name, the grimey instrumental has everything to perfectly complimenting Bad1’s strong delivery.

Starting off the song with a shoutout to the Southside (South Auckland), Bad1 tells the story of what he sees in the neighbourhood. Calling out those that get ‘Caught in the Mix’ of the dangerous lifestyle that young people in South Auckland, Bad1 targets those individuals who lack the experience and understanding of their activities.

“I’ve been through the stories that I tell in my music, the songs reflect what I have seen and what my friends and family have had to experience. It gets difficult because lines are blurred and some people aren’t ready for the responsibility of feeding off the streets, this is what this song is about.” - Bad1 on his song ‘Caught In The Mix’.

Having been featured in multiple editorial playlists on both Spotify and Apple Music for his previous release, Bad1 is continuing to build on the steady momentum he has gained since releasing his first commercial single. Looking forward to the rest of the year, listeners can expect a couple more strong releases as he prepares to drop his debut EP in early 2023.

Stream ‘Caught In The Mix’ by Bad1 on all streaming services, here. Follow Bad1 on Instagram @bad1bad1_

K I M B R A ANNOUNCES UPCOMING ALBUM ‘A RECKONING’ RELEASES NEW SINGLE & VIDEO “SAVE ME”

Today, two-time Grammy-award winning artist Kimbra announces her upcoming studio album A Reckoning. To coincide with the announcement, she has debuted new single “Save Me” alongside a music video directed by Yvan Fabing.

LISTEN & WATCH “Save Me” HERE

Set for release in 2023, A Reckoning is primed to be a reflective record capturing the macro reckonings that impact our world around environment, race, feminism health and patriarchy through the eyes of the archteypal Mother. But at the heart of her record is the war with the micro reckonings that Kimbra faces internally. It’s the most sonically autonomous and confessionally raw she has ever been, finding influence in everything from modern movie soundtracks to electronic and industrial worlds. The album was first imagined in 2018, during Kimbra’s tour with co-producer Ryan Lott of the band Son Lux, who recently scored A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once.

On “Save Me,” Kimbra shares a moment of deep yearning set on a bed of unsettling warped pianos. She explores how two internal realities can be present at once : chaos and contemplation, rage and still life-force. Inspired by a singular moment, she searches her insecurities with hopes that someone will save her from herself.

Made with the support of NZ On Air, the track is brought to new light in the music video that shows the pop singer in Iceland, traversing dangerous, surreal terrains as she seeks to heal her relationship to self, to other women, and finally to our Mother Earth.

More to come from Kimbra.

About Kimbra:

New Zealand-born pop star and two-time Grammy Award winning tour de force Kimbra is

readying her fourth studio album, A Reckoning, produced in tandem with Son Lux’s Ryan Lott. 

This is just the latest chapter in a series of Kimbra’s overall career success: the experimental pop performer’s 2011 debut, Vows, bowed at No. 14 on the Billboard Top 200 and was certified platinum in Australia and New Zealand. She received Best Female Artist two years in a row at the ARIA Music Awards and took home 5 New Zealand Tui Awards including Album of The Year in 2012. That same year, she exploded into the public consciousness with “Somebody That I Used To Know,” a duet with Gotye that earned her two Grammy Awards for “Record of the Year” and “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance,” as well as reaching No. 1 on global charts (across 18 countries) and selling more than 13 million copies. 

Her 2014 sophomore record, The Golden Echo, highlighted her eclectic style with a diverse set of collaborations from Thundercat, Omar-Rodriguez Lopez of The Mars Volta, Bilal, and John Legend. Likewise, her third LP, 2018’s Primal Heart, saw her touring with the likes of Beck, Odesza and David Byrne. Kimbra has performed on TV shows such as Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Last Call with Carson Daly, Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Seth Meyers, as well as performing at festivals such as Coachella, Austin City Limits and more. 

Moving forward, Kimbra hopes listeners will find catharsis and connection on A Reckoning,

whether they are contending with change in their own lives or processing shifts in the world

around them.

For more information on Kimbra, please visit:

Spotify | Apple | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

ARJUNA OAKES & SEREBII SHARE "SUMMER RAIN", FINAL DAYS EP OUT NOW

Arjuna Oakes & Serebii - "Summer Rain"

(Video // Streaming)

New Zealand's Arjuna Oakes and Serebii, a.k.a. Callum Mower, have released their Final Days EP on Innovative Leisure.

Arjuna Oakes and Serebii, a.k.a. Callum Mower, met while playing sold out shows together, but they knew then that it was just the beginning of something bigger. They were serving as hired guns in a popular surf rock band, touring Aotearoa New Zealand in mid-size venues, tearing it up, helping others realize their musical vision. That was great, but the friendship forged between the two of them in the process was the real bounty: “We got on like a house on fire,” says Mower. “And we’d end up sticking together through festivals or hanging out at parties.”

“Just like a brother,” Oakes jumps in.

Back in their base of Wellington, Oakes and Mower kept hanging out and playing together—except this time they were making music more like what was calling to them personally. When Oakes was working on his solo work—jazzy chill-hop with an alt-rock twist—he would call on Mower to pop in to help with some of his velvet-y production skills. And when Mower needed a killer voice or a compositional tweak on something he was working on—often psych-infused grooves—he had Oakes on speed-dial. It wasn’t long before they realized that they should be working together in earnest.

"Tired Faces"

(Video // Streaming)

Something like if Portishead collaborated with Flying Lotus, 2021’s First Nights EP was an introduction to the duo as a singular act, and “Even When You’re Gone,” a funky chiller Oakes wrote while going through a tough breakup, quickly found its way onto endless streaming playlists looking to harness the vibe. The EP sounds like a million bucks, but was in fact largely recorded over several months in Mower’s bedroom, “with just an SM57 [mic] and no gear whatsoever,” laughs Oakes. “It’s quite nice recording over a longer period of time,” says Oakes, “because you can really mold the songs the way that you want to.”

They soon decided to keep the momentum going, creating a second EP, Final Days, designed to be “a sister record” for First Nights. This new one was put together in much the same way as the first: songwriting duties were shared between the two, with Oakes handling most of the singing and all of the keys and synths, and Mower leading the production duties and playing almost all the guitar and bass parts. (A few friends also helped with drums/percussion and trumpet parts.) By and large, it was recorded in Mower’s bedroom, his cat crawling on their shoulders throughout.

You can feel the push and pull of each personality on certain tracks, swirling together in a collage of various talents and sensibilities. On “Flavour,” a club-ready track that Oakes brought in, Mower’s Chic-ish guitar licks shimmy into the mix, and on “Tired Faces,” a track that Mower brought in, Oakes’ Thom Yorke–reminiscent pipes turn the song into a pure vapor—more a gas hovering in the landscape than a file on a computer. “We both grew up in thick, thick nature,” notes Mower. “I’m forever searching for ways to recreate what nature does.”

Like First Nights, Final Days was also similarly inspired by a form of grief. Rather than a breakup, Oakes was dealing with the impending loss of a beloved grandparent this time around, and was trying to process the experience through music. “I was losing my granddad to cancer, and I knew it was coming,” he explains. “So it’s a kind of a thing of letting go of people you love.”

"Flavour"

(Video // Streaming)

“Make this pain feel small / Crave the moments that I once never noticed,” Oakes sings on the song “Final Days,” over an intricate nylon-string progression. The track begins with a voicemail that was left for Mower by his grandmother, who’s still with us, “and is such a character,” according to Oakes. “I’m very grateful [Mower] put that clip in because I wrote that song about my granddad who just passed away,” Oakes says. “It felt right to make it about our grandparents. And our loved ones.”

“I’m not strolling down the avenue, but I’m thinking of you,” Mower’s grandmother says, over a laugh. “OK, darling, lots of love. Bye.”

Yung Maac and RVNNAH collaborate for new single ‘4 10 Shawty’

Gisborne rappers Yung Maac and RVNNAH have recently released their highly anticipated collaboration track ‘4 10 Shawty’, a fast paced trap single produced by Multi Platinum RIAA Award winner StardustSzn.

Layering a distinct string lead line and heavy 808 drums alongside a choir vocal sample, the instrumental sets out the scene for Yung Maac’s hook, to start off the song. With his signature autotune lead sound alongside catchy lyrics detailing the scene, the rapper lays out the blueprint for RVNNAH to follow in the rest of the track.

“We recorded this song together on the first night we met each other. RVNNAH came in to the studio, heard the instrumental and he laid his verse out in 10 minutes off the dome. I’ve never seen anything like that before, he had everyone in the studio going crazy.” - Yung Maac, on recording ‘410 Shawty’ with RVNNAH.

This song had been leaked online by fans of Yung Maac’s SoundCloud, after the artist’s computer got stolen from a studio session in Wellington. After many months of high anticipation, listeners have been giving it a lot of attention across the various online platforms.

With this song being one of the most anticipated releases of Yung Maac’s journey in music so far, he is set to release another collaboration with RVNNAH, titled ‘Sideline’, in late October.

Stream Yung Maac and RVNNAH’s song, ‘4 10 Shawty’ on all platforms, here. Follow Yung Maac on Instagram, @yung_maac

JAZ PATERSON DELIVERS NOSTALGIC NEW SINGLE “OLDER”

Rising electronic pop artist Jaz Paterson today releases her brand new single ‘Older’. By crafting alternative pop beats with contemporary R&B vocals, the gifted New Zealand based musician juxtaposes light and dark themes to deliver her introspective and confessional style of music.  

‘Older’ combines beautiful and subtle production elements inspired by Phoebe Bridgers and BANKS. It infuses acoustic production with subtle electronic elements. ‘Older’ speaks to the fear of becoming a jaded version of self. The song ponders the question of potential. It is gentle, emotive, nostalgic, and bittersweet – “If I marry the boy that I like and we live in a house with my kid, will it be everything that I want?”

PURCHASE / LISTEN TO ‘OLDER’ HERE:

https://bfan.link/jaz-paterson-older

“Jaz Paterson delivers refreshingly original music that instantly captivates and intrigues. The New Zealand based alternative pop artist draws on influences from the likes of Banks, Tov Lo, James Blake and Bon Iver, to develop a spellbinding, yet honest and confessional style of music that explores the intricacies of various production techniques. Jaz’s impressive vocals and songwriting prowess have recently been showcased on a variety of tracks in different genres - a UK house inspired collaboration with local kiwi artists Rei and Sean Richards, a Dancefloor DnB track with producer duo “Melt”, and most recently, a collaboration with MC Tali. Recent performances have included a set at Rolling Meadows 2022, Jaz’s first five date NZ tour in April 2022, and a headline show at Space Academy Christchurch. In 2016, she was selected as a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) and was named a finalist in the Olympic Songwriting Competition. With Jaz’s music career starting to heat up, be sure to keep an eye out for an upcoming EP set to be released in 2023. Set to intricate melodies and harmonies, Jaz’s music will have you hooked from the very first beat as she recites stories about the up and downs of life in her early twenties”