Nadia Reid, Jujulipps and Thom Yorke from The Smile. Photos / supplied
Nadia Reid, Jujulipps and Thom Yorke from The Smile. Photos / supplied
Baby Bright
by Nadia Reid
A touching new release from the Port Chalmers songstress, ahead of her forthcoming album Enter New Brightness. Reid’s impressive vocal range and tonality are given a lot of space over soft piano and trumpets. Vocal harmonies ebb and flow, before soaring at the bridge. Comeswith a lovely music video, which like the song conveys the bond between mother and child (see below). – Sam Clark
Good Guys
by Jujulipps
Catchy dancefloor rap with something serious to say about being a woman in a male-dominated world (the hip-hop community and beyond): “Where did the good guys go? I don’t see them no more, waited all my life, yeah I know my worth.” The irony of waiting for a man won’t be lost but this hip-hop pop – and the terrific stripped down previous single Game Over – light the fuse for a new album Superstar due before the end of the year. If you haven’t been listening now’s the time to tune in. – Graham Reid
Instant Psalm
by The Smile
A progressive/psychedelic ballad from The Smile’s new album. Like the title suggests, there’s a devotional quality to this track. It’s a pleasant blend of acoustic guitar, flute and swinging drums, with string arrangements from the London Contemporary Orchestra. The visualiser-style music video echoes OK Computer’s themes of alienation - a lone figure walks into a forest as storm clouds roll in.– Sam Clark
Ingo Swann
by Flying Lotus
A little squishy house for cooler moods which doesn’t really go anywhere but makes fine audio wallpaper, although after his excellent soundtrack for the Netflix anime Yasuke and the Flamagra Instrumentals album you sense Flying Lotus music is best enjoyed with visuals. – Graham Reid
Matt Sweeney takes the lead on this short and sweet track from indie supergroup The Hard Quartet. Sweeney’s descending guitar riff alternates with a series of drum fills and subtle rhythm guitar. Its music video offers a look into the bandmates’ friendship and shared musical history. Sweeney looks over from his New York City stoop, before joining Stephen Malkmus in his trucker cap to play a gig at a nearby bar. – Sam Clark
Sancan, Caprice romantique for Piano Left Hand.
By Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano.
“I think of all my recordings it’s the one that makes the most sense,” pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet said a few weeks ago in our Listener interview. He was talking about this album dedicated to the works of Pierre Sancan (1916-2008), a major figure in 20th century French music as composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, but virtually unknown elsewhere. Sancan had some game. He was a good enough composer to win the Paris Conservatoire’s Prix de Rome (previous winners: Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy), while his piano students included Michel Béroff, Jean-Philippe Collard and Bavouzet, who joins Auckland Philharmonia for his only New Zealand concert on October 17. – Richard Betts
