Roses
by Alisa Xayalith
The voice of The Naked & Famous follows an earlier single and EP with another solo release an airy, daydream-pop number which mixes synth-scape echoes of her old band with a sunny guitar strum beneath Xayalith’s as-always pristine voice. – Russell Baillie
Rainbow Overpass and Bells and Whistles
by Bright Eyes
Been four years since Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes delivered his quirky alt-pop/slacker rock on the album Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was which felt like something cathartic after a separation, the death of his brother and the arrival of Trump. Here the Violent Femmes-like swirl of country, folk and indie rock on the seething Rainbow Overpass and the more chipper but desperate-sounding Bells and Whistles (with whistling) is a cynical stab at his chosen path (“The label asked for a meet and greet, I agreed reluctantly”). But both released simultaneously suggest a man re-invigorated and the new album Five Dices, All Threes could be a return to form. – Graham Reid
Don’t Get Me Started
by The Smile
Thom Yorke has solo dates here in October but The Smile – his offshoot with Radiohead colleague Jonny Greenwood – is still releasing new tracks in the wake of their great Wall of Eyes album from earlier this year. Don’t Get Me Started starts out closer to the electronica of Yorke’s 2019 solo effort Anima with its stair-climbing synthesizers before it becomes a sort of time signature Rubik’s Cube that assembles itself very cleverly. It’s inspired a wonderfully weird Kraftwerk-ian video too. – Russell Baillie
Take It Slow
by Reiki Ruawai
More breezy soul from Raglan’s finest who here brings an almost slippery Latin feel to a song which celebrates slowing down and enjoying the moment. That sounds very Raglan, doesn’t it? – Graham Reid
Once a Bunch
by Adrienne Lenker
The Big Thief singer-songwriter follows her sweetly ramshackle Bright Future solo album from earlier this year with a track left off most versions of the release, a pretty, woozy, folk-country waltz that has a few miles on it from band shows in recent times. – Russell Baillie
Hollywood and CD-R
by Toro y Moi with Ben Gibbard
Retro-pop and First World problems (“Help me out, I’m in Hollywood. No cell service in the neighbourhood . . . paparazzi on your mind”) and some complaint by Toro y Moi about being famous. Song given some street cred by guest Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. The “B-side” CD-R has Toro look back on the good old days of CDs before streaming and so on. Millennial nostalgia. New album Hole Erth on Sept 6. – Graham Reid
Keep Noddin’
by Mano Le Tough
New from Berlin-based Irish DJ-producer Niall Mannion, aka Mano Le Tough. The track begins with analogue, almost robotic textures contrasted with warm synth pads – no doubt the influence of his adopted home. Mannion also takes cues from LCD Soundsystem – judging by track’s minimal structure and the splashes of recorded drum breaks, which build great tension. – Sam Clark
Swahili Lullaby (Talking Drums Redub)
by Khartomb
A remix of an 80s hidden gem. Ska-punk runs through the rhythm section’s 1.5-minute intro – much like underground favourites The Offs. But you’re soon led somewhere very different, with the track’s dub elements in full force, stretched out and pressurised. In their day, Khartomb recorded a Peel Session – and were inspired by contemporaries The Slits and The Raincoats. – Sam Clark
Getaway
by Kyla Greening, Aidan Fine
Sweetly funky, melodically infectious, 90s-throwback R&B-pop by two young up-and-comers, Waikato singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kyla Greening and US Auckland-based rapper Aidan Fine. – Russell Baillie
Come Round
by Ocean Beach
More laidback and poppy than their bristling, angry Boys Club single (about the privileged who keep others in their place), this sliver of New Wave storytelling about a relationship never quite takes off but – coupled with other singles – shows the musical breadth we might expect from the forthcoming album The Long Road Home. – Graham Reid
They’re Gonna Give You a Number
by Superturtle
A throwback to taut, post-punk agitated socio-political pop-rock from long-running Auckland band remaining true to their influences. Student radio should be pleased. – Graham Reid
Schumann, Liederkreis Op.39, No.5, ‘Mondnacht’
By Brigitte Fassbaender mezzo-soprano, Elisabeth Leonskaja piano
1840 was Robert Schumann’s miraculous year. In September, he finally married Clara Wieck, who’d accepted his proposal three years earlier. The nuptials took place against the wishes of Clara’s father who, awkwardly, had been Schumann’s piano teacher, but they triggered a prolific outpouring of music, particularly lieder. Schumann called it his “year of song,” and he produced the song cycles Dichterliebe (Poet’s Love), Frauenliebe und Leben (Woman’s Love and Life) and Myrthen (Myrtles, the flowers used in the bride’s bouquet). Let’s just say there was a theme. Predating those works – and his marriage – by several months was the more prosaically titled Liederkreis, or Song Circle. These are nevertheless songs of longing and the wonders of nature – the promise of the future. Katie Trigg made a wonderful job of one of them, last weekend, when she won the Lexus Song Quest. Congratulations, Katie. – Richard Betts
