Nesian Mystik take time on difficult second album

Nesian Mystik have been in no hurry to finish their second album.

If Nesian Mystik feel any nervousness about following up a blockbuster album, it doesn't show.

Four years ago the Auckland six-piece hip hop/R&B outfit released their first album, Polysaturated. Smooth, streetwise and very Polynesian, it became a quadruple platinum seller, making stars out of a group of friends only just out of high school.

Since then they have toured the world, created the music for the hit television series bro'Town, fronted campaigns encouraging meningococcal immunisation and seen their song For The People become ingrained even in non-urban music fans through a Coke advertisement.

But now, in their early 20s, it's time for their music to move on. Their second album, Freshmen, hits stores on May 1, the first day of New Zealand Music Month.

"We had a timeline, but we run on Island time," vocalist Awanui Reeder quips. "Kind of like the way we had a late start today. Late start, late finish, but it gets done.

"We knew the sequel is always the hardest. A lot of people's second albums are weak, and we didn't want to be in that category. Bic Runga took five years to have her second album released and it was worth the wait.

"But the years that we had between were quite important for us growing as individuals. We listened to a lot more, we became a lot more critical, and in terms of our own craft we got better."

Nesian Mystik have done plenty of groundwork touring -- they've been frequent visitors to Australia and the Pacific Islands and have made it to Europe -- and their ambitions for Freshmen are global.

"The first album was made in New Zealand, for New Zealand, and it was our introduction to the music scene. This next album is like an introduction to the rest of the world," MC Donald McAnulty says.

"This time around though there is expectation from our end," Reeder adds. "We want to achieve certain things; like travel, overseas success, so there are expectations. We've worked hard so now we have goals that we want to achieve and we think this is the album to do that with."

As with Polysaturated, there is a mix of hip hop, R&B, soul, Polynesian sounds and funk. The biggest difference with Freshman is that they don't blend the genres so much in a single song.

"Musically we've got a bit more specific with the sound," McAnulty says. "With the last album we threw any sort of style we could all in the one song. In this album this one's specifically soul, this one's R&B, this one's funk, this one's hip hop."

The first single, What's Next, which made number seven on the New Zealand singles chart when released last year, is among the purest hip hop songs.

Their second single, If It's Cool, comes complete with a sample from Style Council's Shout To The Top -- chosen even though none of the band had heard of British 1980s soul combo headed by Paul Weller, the former singer-songwriter of The Jam.

"Our DJ fully didn't know who it was," McAnulty says. "He was going through his brother's records and he pulled out this black and white record, said 'nobody will know who these two white guys on the front are'.

"He sampled it, we wrote the song, played it to people and they were saying 'hey, that's Style Council'. We said 'who?' and they told us it was number one in the UK.

"But then people loved our song, and we sent it to Paul Weller because we thought it could be a track for the album and he loved it and said to use it."

The band also think listeners will hear a much improved production quality -- something which comes from buying a studio on Auckland's North Shore and listening to well-produced albums from overseas.

"I started listening carefully just trying to find what's behind the melodies that capture you," guitarist Dave Atai says.

"And I've learned that they layer their songs like crazy. On the first album we'd have a kick snare, a high hat, guitar, bass and a little synth if you're lucky."

"We've also been able to play around a lot more with the songs," Reeder adds. "It's been a lot more fun."

Now with the album finished -- as recently as April 19 -- it's a case of waiting to see how the public will react. They will be touring New Zealand in June and July, and probably heading back to the Pacific and Europe -- and hopefully international success.

"We'll take Rwanda or Somalia or Iraq," McAnulty says. "We're not fussy."

- NZPA