NZ Music Month: Anika Moa recommends...

Anika Moa

It's New Zealand Music Month - the perfect opportunity to go in search of something new. Each day we're asking a member of our local creative fraternity to throw a little limelight on an artist or group they want you to know about.

"I liked him immediately, he was quiet and a bit dark which I found very romantic."

It may sound like the beginning of a questionable short story but that's how Anika Moa describes meeting Delaney Davidson for the first time.

"We were recording Aldous Harding's album at Angel Gate studio in Christchurch. Delaney swept in and played drums on a couple of tracks.

"I liked him immediately," Moa says.

"He gave me three of his albums and over the following weeks I put them all on high rotate in my fancy Mazda CX7."

It's the kind of name you don't forget, Delaney Davidson. Helped by the fact he was a nominee for the 2011 APRA Silver Scroll award (for Little Heart) and his song You're A Loser is a current finalist for the APRA Best Country Song award.

"Bad Luck Man is a great album because it has a sense of humorous evil with a touch of lusty love and a proper man's warmth. It is his blues trash and it's just brilliant. I think New Zealand needs more poets with evil love attached.

"Another thing I admire about Delaney and other musos like Flip Grater and Ladi6 is that he goes overseas and tours all over Europe and America for most of the year," Moa says.

"I'd rather do a gig at the local organic markets. I'm very feral. Anyhoos, I love Delaney's music and so should you.

"He's my Keri Hulme of the music world if that makes sense."

Delaney Davidson: I Slept Late

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-nzherald.co.nz