Boudoir
by Erny Belle
Belle’s two albums Venus is Home (two Taite Prize nominations), and Not Your Cupid (another Taite nomination) set the bar very high for this genre-defying artist who moves effortlessly from folk and pop to the sensual as on this collaboration with Semisi Ma’ia’i (Marlin’s Dreaming). Comes with an unexpected and sensitive clip by Anna Brajkovich too. Classy and intelligent on all fronts. – Graham Reid
Cypress Tree
by Sola Rosa Akosia
Sola Rosa’s new New Tomorrows EP is out, cutting it a bit fine for the deadline as a summer soundtrack. But Cypress Tree is an irresistible centrepiece to the collection, both for its late-night jazz guitar and bass inclinations, and for the vocals of Akosia, all of which can recall Mr Rosa’s early outings with Ladi6 at the microphone. – Russell Baillie
Safe in Body
by Mim Jensen
A sweetly dreamy number of indie guitar haze and snowballing melody from Christchurch singer-songwriter Mim Jensen from her forthcoming sophomore EP. The labelmate of Tom Lark and Mousey is opening for Shihad at Auckland’s Spark Arena this week which will be a very pleasant way to start a very loud evening. – Russell Baillie
Unleash Your Animal
by Liam Finn
Another track in Finn’s album-by-instalments “Hyperverse” project which gets a vinyl release for next month’s Record Store Day. He acknowledges the Neil Young-like guitar riffery in the press release for the track, but that’s just one thread of its psychedelic magic carpet ride that suggests this might be the Tomorrow Never Knows of the collection and so might work nicely as the last track of side two. – Russell Baillie
Like Clay
by Lucy Gooch
Bristol-based electronica-cum-ambient artist Gooch creates warm soundscapes in which Julee Cruise, Kate Bush, Brian Eno, Meredith Monk, and the Cocteau Twins sit in a twilight parlour sipping sherry and watching birds in the garden. Advance notice of her Desert Window debut album (June 6) which sounds like it could be ideal comfort for winter days. Sophisticated and not easy to pin down, as the video shows. – Graham Reid
Gethsemane
by Car Seat Headrest
Winner of the prize for rock opera of the week is the American solo-project-turned-band of Will Toledo, with its multi-movement, eleven-minute epic which starts off in gentle electronica territory before heading somewhere suggesting Beck covering a forgotten track off The Who’s Tommy. Quite something. – Russell Baillie
Limelight
by Tune-Yards
Throwing back to Talking Heads, Parliament-Funkadelic and a bit of Chic, this rather obvious party-starter with an “alright, now everybody sing” vibe also throws in a bit of white-girl rap for good measure. All dancefloor bases covered but fun for all that. Party like its 1978 until their new album Better Dreaming arrives May 16. – Graham Reid
Boxing (DJ Python remix)
by Mount Kimbie, King Krule
One of Warp Records’ finest byproducts in recent years has been the ongoing collaboration between the productions of British electronic duo Mount Kimbie and the gritty vocals of King Krule. Boxing was a highlight from the band’s 2024 release, The Sunset Violent – which saw them delve deeper into live instrumentation, and alternative/indie sounds. In saying that, their electronic origins run deep – DJ Python chops up the vocals and guitar and adds bleepy synths to this euphoric rework. – Sam Clark
Hot Bath
by Jade Imagine
Melbourne rockers Jade Imagine channel the gritty, inner-city sounds made famous by Television and Sonic Youth. Bass takes turns on the melody with bandleader Jade McInally’s vocals, with guitar adding jagged textures around the edges. Originally signed to Courtney Barnett’s now defunct Milk! Records – the band released two full-length albums on that imprint. Perhaps another project on the way? – Sam Clark
Dollar Store (feat. Waxahatchee)
by Ben Kweller
Texan indie stalwart Ben Kweller shares this sweet and blue song ahead of his upcoming album Cover The Mirrors. The track is driven by a melancholic guitar riff, reminiscent of early Smashing Pumpkins. Waxahatchee’s subtle harmonies are wonderful – hopefully there’ll be future collaborations between the two. The pair softly make their way towards an energetic finish – where the distortion is cranked up to a maximum. Having been in post-grunge band Radish since his early teens – Keller’s a prominent fixture of the Austin City Limits music festival. – Sam Clark
Owain Park, Battle Cry: I. ‘Boudicca’
by Helen Charlston mezzo-soprano, Toby Carr theorbo.
Helen Charlston’s Battle Cry: She Speaks was one of my favourite albums of 2024. The mezzo-soprano has an extraordinary, ambiguous voice, which enables her to blur gender lines, but there’s no doubting where she lies in this track, written by Owain Park (best known as the director of early music choir The Gesualdo Six). Here, Charlston fully embodies the British warrior queen Boudicca (who used to be, but these days isn’t known by her Latinised name Boadicea). Women’s History Month continues through March. – Richard Betts
