Last of the Lonely Gods
By Jon Toogood
Jon Toogood of Shihad, whose last album was Old Gods, still has deity images in mind for this slow piano ballad which is freighted with optimism and a message that recommends staying the course and sticking the dark days out: “things will start to turn around”. Solid sentiment and a decent album track, which, in the closing passages, has some of Neil Finn’s heroic, melodic hopefulness. – Graham Reid
Dog Park/Opener
By Mousey
Ōtautahi Christchurch singer-songwriter Mousey (Sarena Close) is one of the more experimental pop artists on the spectrum with two excellent and critically acclaimed albums – Lemon Law (2019) and My Friends (2022) – and an Apra Silver Scroll nomination. With the strange, moody and percussive Dog Park she shows no sign of pulling back with a song which scratches its way into the subconscious. Released with its B-side companion piece, the equally hypnotic and brooding Opener, Mousey looks to be setting up a fascinating album where pop meets art in a discomforting, dark room. – Graham Reid
Hello My Dear
By Marlin’s Dreaming
Still firmly rooted in surf-tinged alternative rock, Marlin’s Dreaming explore further sonic pathways on Hello My Dear. Acoustic guitar, slides and synths are welcome additions to the Dunedin band’s well-developed sound. It follows on from previous single Earnestly, featuring Erny Belle. It’s been nearly three years since Marlin’s Dreaming released their last LP, Hasten. Since, frontman Semisi Maiai has started School Fair, recorded with Julien Dyne and more recently featured on Death and the Maiden’s new album. A time for musical exploration, reflected on a great local release. – Sam Clark
Mesosphere
By Misha Panfilov
A new, winding 15-minute piece of psychedelia from the Portugal-based Estonian composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Endlessly prolific, Panfilov also belongs to the Estrada Orchestra and Penza Penza – all the while running his YouTube channel, Funked Up East – which celebrates back-catalogued music from the Soviet Union. We’re treated to a soundscape of flutes, trumpets and synthesisers on this release. The mesosphere is 50km above Earth – it does feel like you’re drifting through space. – Sam Clark
Break Away
by The Saints
Arguably Australia’s greatest early punk band, established by the classic single (I’m) Stranded, the Saints were the vehicle for singer-songwriter Chris Bailey, who died in 2022 leaving a catalogue of exceptional Saints songs (Just Like Fire Would, Security City, See You in Paradise) and overlooked solo albums. This posthumous song – touching the spirit of Just Like Fire Would and some Byrdsian jangle – might be written off as “dad rock” but its yearning is touching and anticipates a new Saints album Long March Through the Jazz Age. – Graham Reid
Boys Club
By Ocean Beach
Here, the senior, all-male local rockers around Gary Dalhousie take a fuzzed-up poke at the monied-up patriarchy and board-of-directors types who will never hear a note of this rock radio pop. From the forthcoming, semi-autobiographical album The Long Road Home. – Graham Reid
Werner, Lullaby for a Sister
By Héloïse Werner soprano, Colin Alexander cello
Héloïse Werner is one of those impressive hyphenate creatives. The soprano/composer’s new album, Close-Ups, manages the clever trick of sounding ancient and modern at the same time. Some of the pieces are genuinely old – she goes as far back as Hildegard of Bingen in the 12th century – but there’s also a feeling of timelessness about several of Werner’s compositions. (Though not all of them; there is a smattering of avant-gardery in Close-Ups, too.) Lullaby For a Sister is a good example of old meeting new. With Werner’s voice accompanied only by a shivering cello, it sounds like the snow-blasted remnants of a polar bear hunting expedition gone wrong. But in a good way. – Richard Betts
