SoundBites: Graham Candy, Smashproof, Dinosaur Jr

Graham Candy. Photo/Supplied

A Kiwi lad who in the space of a few months went from playing acoustic gigs in Auckland bars to performing in front of thousands in Europe is set to release his debut album.

Graham Candy's distinctive voice is one of the reasons his earlier single She Moves went platinum in Germany.

Now his album Plan A is set to wow pop fans.

Lead single Back Into It - co-produced by Panic! At The Disco lead guitarist Kenneth Harris - urges you to work for your dreams, put your back into it.

And while his sound is at times very Europop, he doesn't forget his roots, singing plaintively "I want to go home" on the album opener.

Candy is also an accomplished actor, having appeared in a film with Keisha Castle-Hughes as well as stage productions.

Plan A is out on September 23.

Smashproof are back together for a new song and tour.

TY, Sid Diamond and Deach have been working on their solo careers, but recently teased a New Zealand tour on their Facebook page.

Never Let You Down feat. PT and produced by Cody Wave is out now. Tour details to come.

Dinosaur Jr, whose recent album Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not was reviewed here, will play one New Zealand gig early next year.

The trio will play The Studio in Auckland on January 23 - tickets on sale from Ticketmaster and Under The Radar.

For those counting their pennies, that date's one week before Laneway at Albert Park, the line-up for which has been announced here and includes Tame Impala, Whitney and Car Seat Headrest.

With a new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album to savour, let's not forget the amazing music in the back catalogue.

Tender Prey was released in 1988, and was later called a "nightmare" by Cave, with bad production and bad performances.

But that's part of its charm, and indeed opening track The Mercy Seat was the stuff of my teenage nightmares, while the upbeat drunk uncle karaoke of Deanna and the simmering menace of City of Refuge lent themselves to the overall dark tone of the album.