New musical phase for Carly Binding

Carly Binding

Singer and songwriter Carly Binding has entered another phase in a varied music career with her latest album So Radiate.

From her early days of musicals and instant fame on television show Popstars -- which led to the creation of girl group TrueBliss -- it appeared the Auckland-based musician was going to make her mark in the entertainment industry.

Binding went solo after TrueBliss and in 2003 made the successful debut album, Passenger.

Her latest creation marks another change in her career, with the music about to be forged across the country by way of a tour alongside fellow singer and songwriter Donald Reid.

Binding said So Radiate, which is due to be released July 3, came after a year-long stint in Australia playing her earlier music.

She said pushing her music across the Tasman was totally removed from doing the same in New Zealand, but she eventually made some headway over there on the back of some fairly hard work.

"I could have either stayed there and kept flogging it or do some more writing," she said.

Catchy pop songs such as We Kissed, which made the top 10 New Zealand singles chart, and Alright With Me helped push Passenger past gold status here.

But Binding said So Radiate was more of her own album than the earlier one and that she was more in control of the whole process of writing and making it.

It has been described as being full of songs with "huge hooks, bold guitars and gutsy vocals".

The first single I See the World has been getting plenty of attention on the New Zealand airwaves.

Some of the songs were co-written in Australia with Australian band Eskimo Joe and the album was finished off with a three-week recording stint at Auckland's York St Studios.

The band itself includes a range of musicians playing guitars, bass, keyboards and drums, but the music will be stripped back to acoustic guitars for the upcoming tour.

"Donald and I have been getting together for practices already and we're going to play each other's records with each other so it's not so sort of naked," she said.

A few personally chosen covers will be thrown in to add a bit of fun to the mix.

Binding said the shows would be on the smaller side and were intended to be relatively intimate.

"I haven't done that for a while, and it's quite good because it takes the pressure off compared to playing the big bombastic shows in all the main places.

"It will be good to get into the bare bones of New Zealand and play the songs how they were written."

The tour starts in Tauranga on July 12 and goes the length and breadth of the country.

- NZPA