Speyside
by Bon Iver
The first new music in five or so years – and since featuring prominently on Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore albums – from Bon Iver sounds like some quite old music from Justin Vernon and co. Named for an area of North-East Scotland known for its distilleries, the song is a sweetly woozy folk guitar ballad with a touch of cello under another of Vernon’s slightly unearthly processed vocals. An attention-commanding three and half minutes. – Russell Baillie
Ake (Mauri Ora)
by Rob Thorne and Delaney Davidson
Sounding like an antipodean offshoot of Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane, this swirling and thumping celebration of mauri (life force) by taonga puoro expert Thorne (singing here in te reo and playing wild pūtōrino/flute) and Davidson (in enjoyably disruptive style with screaming feedback in the second half). Perfectly timed for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori/Māori Language Week but a muscular song with a long shelf-life. – Graham Reid
Boys & Guitars
by Alisa Xayalith
The second single from Alisa Xayalith’s forthcoming solo album has her moving a little further away from her Naked and Famous soundscapes of old to something that wouldn’t sound out of place on a boygenius album, care of its hazy nostalgic mood and swirling indelible melodies. – Russell Baillie
Dump No Waste, Flows to Sea
by Office Dog
Grungy sounds from Flying Nun band Office Dog ahead of their US tour. Consisting mostly of Kane Strang’s signature double-tracked vocals and a strong acoustic chord progression, the distortion is cranked up as it builds to an electrifying close. Small touches like maraca in the rhythm section, and synthesiser frequencies (courtesy of Violet Hirst and De Stevens) add lovely textures. Bodes well for their new album Doggerland. – Sam Clark
Kei Whati Te Marama
by Dillastrate
Among this year’s new batch of “Waiata Anthems”, the track by Ōtautahi drum & bass duo Dillastrate certainly takes the anthemic part of its job very seriously with a chorus that has a touch of John Farnham’s The Voice about it. But it clatters along from minimal beginnings to its grand finale in an impressively dynamic way, and it still feels as heartfelt as it is upbeat. – Russell Baillie
Silver Girl
by Celine
Tāmaki Makaurau’s rowdy alt-rock three-piece Celine add guitarist David Mitchell (3Ds, Goblin Mix) to their aural assault for a dense chunk of roaring rock which also manages to be remarkably poppy – in an ear-damaging way. – Graham Reid
Afterthought
by Lizzy Kula
The silky sophomore single from Mt Maunganui-based Lizzy Kula shows her jazz bassist background has left its mark in a very tasteful way on a quietly hypnotic track with trip-hop leanings and the suggestion of good things to come. – Russell Baillie
A Simple Meditation
by Arthur Ahbez and the Flaming Ahbez
Musically a folksy slice of pastoral psychedelia with flute and acoustic guitar but the voice from Ahbez ensuring you won’t nod off as it slices through like a teenage Neil Young. Interesting teaser for the forthcoming album (November 8). Gets better and easier with every play. – Graham Reid
My PC
by Hot Chip
A funky surprise tune from UK electronica whizzes, Hot Chip. Choppy synthesisers and a looped drumbeat provide a great backdrop for light-hearted, yet insightful musings on their songwriting process: “I dream of making records sounding just like Dr. Dre / Sitting on my PC every night and every day.” This is one of seven bonus tracks which will be released on the upcoming 20th Anniversary of Coming On Strongerer. – Sam Clark
Berlioz, ‘Villanelle’ from Les Nuits d’ete
by Veronique Gens soprano, Orchestra National des Pays de la Loire, John Axelrod conductor
Sure, we’ve been celebrating spring’s arrival for a few weeks. I get it, I really do. But if we’re being pedantic, the spring equinox is September 23. Berlioz wrote the perfect song to accompany it. ‘Villanelle’ comes from the song cycle Les Nuits d’ete, and the text, by Theophile Gaultier, opens something along the lines of: “When the frosts have disappeared, we shall go, the two of us, my beauty, to gather lilies of the valley in the wood.” You can hear the lambs gambolling from here. – Richard Betts
