Singer-songwriter Navvy is a pop star in the making. Photo / supplied
To celebrate New Zealand Music Month, we look at four new Kiwi artists making fresh sounds in 2019.
Navvy
Kiwi newcomer Phoebe Lee Jasper could well become a household name and when she does, it'll be under her music moniker Navvy.
Born and raised in Auckland, Navvy studied classical and musical theatre throughout her childhood and arrived at pop while at university - an unexpected departure from her comfort zone, but one that led her to where she is now.
A pop star in the making, she's drawn early comparisons to the likes of Sigrid and Lorde, having just released her debut single Subliminal, and is already catching all kinds of international acclaim for her electro-pop sound.
She's already featured on Clash where her track premiered, scored a feature article in The Line of Best Fit and appeared alongside James Blake and others on Wonderland's Wonderlist.
Navvy's debut track is about settling into the space outside one's comfort zone; "losing inhibition and being exactly who you want to be without question". It's a coming-of-age type of self-discovery, which followed a break-up, after which she "really found who I am without someone else. I want that girl to make music, and I want people to see her."
It's certainly one hell of an introduction; Subliminal has a pulsing dance-pop beat, dreamy, shimmering synths, a touch of the 80s and a unique vocal style somewhere between Lorde and Katy Perry.
"I'm head over heels for music and the deep joy it brings me. There is nothing else that makes me feel the way I do when I play music," she says.
"I struggled a lot with figuring out who I was when I was growing up, and I found great comfort in music. I would love to give that to other people, especially young women."
Chaii
This talented bilingual rapper – who also works in production, art direction and directorial roles on music videos – is one of the freshest voices in New Zealand hip-hop today.
Chaii has been making waves with her absolute powerhouse of a debut single, Digebasse (Enough). The song has everything you want from a modern rap track: a stomping, world-inspired beat, dynamic tempo changes, and a music video that's nothing short of intoxicating.
When Chaii released the Oman-filmed music video for Digebasse on Facebook, it garnered almost a million views in just over two weeks. The clip, with its sweeping shots of Chaii and her pals riding through the desert, calls to mind the rich visuals of M.I.A.'s iconic Bad Girls video.
The Auckland-based, Persian-Kiwi rapper sings in Farsi and English in the song, in which the lyrics reference leaving divisive attitudes in the past and moving forward with positivity and connection.
The chorus' final lyric – "It's just positive vibe, it's just positive vibe" – might have sounded trite in another artist's song, but the infectious beat and pure, vibrant production mean you can't help but feel as though Chaii has invited you into a world of exclusively forward-facing greatness.
The song's ideas of cultural connection took on an even greater significance last month. As she told RNZ following the tragic events in Christchurch, the song aims to drown out hatred with positivity.
"Before Friday, the song was originally about shining a positive light on the Middle East. I just wanted to show some scenery and some colour and people having a good time. Just people like everyone else," she told Yadana Saw.
"Hatred comes from misinformation and that was what I was originally trying to stand up for [in the song]. The only way you can beat that is through positivity, through showing and educating."
Digebasse (Enough) is just the first song and video of a trilogy of songs Chaii taped in Oman, which she hopes to roll out over the next few months.
Cecily
Auckland singer-songwriter Cecily makes a powerful debut with her single Thinking Bout Me, which premieres tomorrow. The 21-year-old's voice is a little bit Regina Spektor, a little bit Florence and the Machine, a little bit Marina and the Diamonds – but wholly original in its own right.
Thinking Bout Me is a pop banger with a polished production bed of jarring strings and a mid-tempo beat. Ove a soothing hook, Cecily sings about what it means to focus and fixate on oneself, for better or worse.
She's shrugging off people's perceptions about herself – "they'll say honey she's a loser" – while also getting trapped by her own insecurities. It's the rare kind of pop song that contains multitudes of feeling; Thinking Bout Me understands that humans are full of contradictions and that while one minute we can feel fine, the next, we're not.
Cecily has been singing and performing in Auckland bars and venues throughout her teenage years. The electro-pop tune Thinking Bout Me was produced by Dunedin singer-songwriter Abigail Knudson. Cecily was recently announced to be taking part in the 2019 Songhubs Auckland at Roundhead Studios.
Thinking Bout Me announces Cecily as a preternaturally talented songwriter – and it offers just a taste of what's to come.
Indyah
Stepping out from Broods' brood is aspiring pop musician Indyah. The young singer is cousin to Nelson's famous musical siblings Georgia and Caleb Nott, so it's fair to say pop hooks must run in the family. And while you may not have heard of her yet, when her debut single Truth or Dare drops tomorrow, you're going to hear her a lot.
The song is an explosive, dramatic pop tune that packs more hooks than a fisherman heading out to sea. Indyah may be singing about – in her words - "teenage games", but she's bringing a more mature emotionality to the song. Though her hope that the apple of her eye's lying ways is "just a phase" does show she's got some living still to do.
Musically, however, the track piles on nearly every pop trend going. It should crumble like a pav that's been decorated with too much kiwifruit on top. But Indyah's vocal performance, which modulates from quietly sincere to triumphantly soaring, sells it and sees you going back for more.
"I fell in love with pop music because whenever I hear a good pop song I just feel something else inside," she says. Truth or Dare will undoubtedly leave pop fans feeling it. And that's the truth.