Lexxa.
Forget soppy love songs - Kiwi alt-pop duo Lexxa marked Valentine's Day this week with a "snapshot of a whirlwind romance gone cold".
The new track, Slow Fade Out, is the follow-up to Get Out, which featured on Billboard's Best of 2018 list.
The band posted on social media: "Happy Valentine's Day, we have a sad break up song slow fade out ...".
The song was co-written with Chelsea Jade, Jess B and Nakita, with lyrics that "broach the nauseating undercurrents of millennial dating".
Lexxa recently performed at the Big Gay Out, and are due to play at the Milk and Honey Festival at Auckland's Whammy Bar on March 8, in celebration of International Women's Day 2019.
Meanwhile, Lucy Dacus, who has released a version of Edith Piaf's La Vie En Rose to mark Valentine's Day, has announced an Auckland performance.
The indie rocker's second album Historian was one of last year's best, and her boygenius collaboration with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers last year produced a fantastic EP.
TimeOut said of Historian it was "a stunning post-coming-of-age album driven by lyrical wit".
Dacus will play the Tuning Fork on April 4. Tickets from Ticketmaster.
Artists including Marlon Williams, Jordan Luck and Barry Saunders are among several to pay tribute to Christchurch music identity Al Park on a new album.
Better Already - The Songs of Al Park features music Park has written over the years and serves both as a tribute to his work by his peers and also as evidence of a life lived fully in the heart of a community.
The album's contributors also include Delaney Davidson, Anita Clark, Helen Mulholland, Adam Hathaway, Adam McGrath, Anthea Struthers and Janice Grey.
Parker and friends will celebrate the release on Friday night, February 15, at Blue Smoke at the Tannery, Christchurch. Tickets from undertheradar.co.nz.
Electronic duo Sachi, who are taking the stage at FLOAT! 2019 in Rotorua this weekend, have release new track Worst Behaviour.
The pair describe the song, featuring rising New York pop singer Sam DeRosa, as festival-ready and inhibition-free.
"Worst Behaviour is about a lopsided relationship where one half is playing games while the other is smitten," says Sachi's Nick Chrisp.
The male half of brother-sister duo Broods has stepped up and taken lead vocal duties for the first time on new track Too Proud.
Caleb and Georgia Nott have released their third album Don't Feed The Pop Monster, and last week performed Too Proud on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
The song also features on the winter premiere of Grey's Anatomy.
The pair reunited with Joel Little to produce the new album.
"Our goal was to make songs that are true to us, without hiding behind any kind of façade," said Georgia Nott.
"We worked really hard and went through a thousand different emotions in the process.
"The fact that we can feel so many different emotions and still make something that's so true to us — to me that's the most important part of this whole experience and we're so excited to finally share this album with the world."
TimeOut rated the album four and a half stars.
Broods will play all ages gigs in Christchurch on March 22 and Auckland on March 24.
Indie rockers Clap Clap Riot will play new material on their 10-year anniversary tour of New Zealand.
The band, who are recording with Tom Healy at Auckland's The Lab studio, will hit the road next month, playing Dunedin on March 15, Christchurch on March 16, Wellington on March 17 and Auckland on March 23.
Support acts have yet to be announced.
Clap Clap Riot, who first got together in Canterbury as high school friends, have released one EP and three albums, and have garnered several music award nominations.
Remote volunteering: "I don’t have to choose between spending time with my children and giving back." Video / Rafaella Melo - HBT