New Zealand Music News

Photo by Tasha Tziakis. Te Whanganui-A-Tara/Wellington-based psych-kosmische pop group Mirror Ritual (formerly known as Transistor) have just dropped their latest offering - 'Fear In All', paired with a competitive, table tennis-fuelled music video directed by Hunter Blair and made with the support of NZ On Air.  According to band-member Lochie Noble, the song has been a long time in the making (sometimes, good things take time, alright?). Originally crafted in 2018, the song had multiple revisions before eventually taking shape into the rolling dream-hypnotic piece it is today.  "Back when we first started working on the song, I was still relying heavily...

Photo: The Beths Today, The Beths reveal the third and final single from their upcoming album, Expert In A Dying Field.  'Knees Deep' is an anthem of bravery; a bouncy ode to taking leaps, paired with a music video that puts that puts those leaps to the test as the band tackles the Auckland Harbour Bridge bungy jump. The song channels Stokes' angular songwriting with bright, bouncy pop riffs to create yet another instant Beths classic. And we'd happily listen to this whilst bungy jumping off the Harbour Bridge, wouldn't you?  Of the track, front member Liz Stokes explains: “I'm the kind of person who wants to go swimming...

Photo: Soft Bait Tāmaki-based outfit, Soft Bait, have untied their second single, 'True Stories' - an electrifying post punk song paired with an equivalently charged-up music video (edited by band member Ezra Simons) featuring vocalist Josh Hunter encased in an aluminium foil-plastered room. Despite how claustrophobic it looks in there, he seems perfectly ok dancing and declaiming thoughts on conspiracy and misinformation. And that's when you realise that the shiny, all encompassing foil and his too-cool moves are simply a reflection on how easy it is to be surrounded by false claims that we can be so comfortable absorbing.  “Based on a true...

Ōtepoti noise-grunge outfit Dale Kerrigan have announced a nationwide tour to celebrate the release of their upcoming sophomore album, The Water, out soon via trace / untrace. The title track, released today, is a slow, sludge-rock track which grows steadily to its noisy, encompassing climax, paired with a visualiser by Joel Field. Dale Kerrigan is the brainchild of musician Shlee Nicholls (Mary Berry, Flesh Bug), alongside her mates Joel Field (Porpoise), Connor Blackie (Koizilla, Adelaide Cara), and Josh Nicholls (Koizilla, Fazed on a Pony, Asta Rangu, Space Bats Attack et al.)  For Shlee, the band forms a response to the “ugly boy singing noise” stereotype, by way...