Come Into The Light
By Nathan Haines ft La Coco
Recalling his successful, soulful, clubland breakbeat sound, jazz musician Nathan Haines (here on keyboards) delivers a track that hits the midpoint between the dancefloor and chill-out electronica, with vocals by Auckland’s La Coca. A smooth taste of his new album Notes released on August 9. Expect remixes. - Graham Reid
Earnestly
By Marlin’s Dreaming and Erny Belle
Dunedin indie stalwarts Marlin’s Dreaming rope in Erny Belle for a delicate his-and-hers duet with a sweetly restrained back and forth between band frontman Semisi Ma’ia’i and Belle and some very pretty slide guitar. Comes complete with strangely unsettling video. – Russell Baillie
The Howl
By Crowded House
Talking about the cracking new Crowded House album to the Listener last month, Neil Finn said the other, younger Finns in the current line-up were making bigger contributions on the songwriting front. This one from the album, which is released this weekend, is Liam-penned and sung, in what might be called the family falsetto, across a dreamy chug of echoey guitars that hits a very sweet spot at the two-thirds mark. Comes with a video featuring a woman with a sword and a man in wolf’s clothing riding a horse along Karekare. Make of that what you will. – Russell Baillie
The Company
By Napoleon Baby
Straight ahead, concise indie rock from an Auckland band which knows how to keep their hands on the pop steering wheel and keep the faith of guitar-fuelled songs. After an impressive, short run of singles last year, this is a fine taster for their EP Unworthy Boys (due June 21). - Graham Reid
Rough
By Fan Club
Rough is the third and final single from Auckland-based Fan Club’s upcoming debut EP, arriving fresh after the group’s Smokefree Rockquest win last year (so, no, it’s not the 80s Auckland synthpop band of the same name). Rough has hauntingly simplistic lyrics that contrast its rather deep context of manipulative relationships. Ending on a satisfyingly amped up conclusion, frontwoman Emma Wagner gives a vocal performance that would stand up in an arena of thousands. – Alana Rae
New Life
By Ringlets
One of last year’s breakout indie artists with their self-titled debut album, Auckland’s Ringlets here deliver more of their jerky, abrasive post-New Wave sound with three minutes of anxious vocals and thought-provoking lyrics. And some real sonic punch in its last minute. - Graham Reid
The Knocker
By Tiny Habits
The American folk-pop group formed in Boston two years ago have now released their debut album All for Something. On it is The Knocker, a poetic tale of giving your all to someone who doesn’t do the same. The group’s vocals are made for folk softness and convey raw emotion with ease, creating a comforting common thread throughout the cohesive album. - Alana Rae
Frogs
By Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
There’s quite a fashion to name-check country singers in songs these days – Kaylee Bell’s Keith, Taylor Swift’s Tim McGraw – and now Oz’s own man in black gets in on the act, albeit obliquely, with his line “Kris Kristofferson walks by kicking a can in a shirt he hasn’t washed for years.” The song itself is a wide-screen number with a curious echo of Nights in White Satin to it. – Russell Baillie
Lilburn, Canzonetta: III.
By Douglas Beilman violin, Gillian Ansell viola.
Let’s just sneak in one last piece for New Zealand Music Month. In this week’s Listener, Christchurch Symphony chief conductor Benjamin Northey mentions the importance of Douglas Lilburn, our greatest composer. Lilburn’s orchestral music gets played often; less heard are his three Cazonettas, miniatures composed for Shakespearean productions staged by Ngaio Marsh, and played here by Gillian Ansell and Douglas Beilman, present and former members of the New Zealand String Quartet. Kiwi as. #NZMM (belated) – Richard Betts
