Brand New Colony
By the Beths and Pickle Darling
Before she was a Beth, Liz Stokes and friend Chelsea Jade Metcalf used to sing Jenny Lewis songs as teenage buskers at their local shopping centre. A decade-plus on, Stokes gives the American singer-songwriter another salute of sorts via this nifty cover of a song from the 2003 debut and only album by The Postal Service, a US indie supergroup that featured Lewis in its line-up. Soundwise, the song leans toward the chamber pop of Christchurch one-man-band Pickle Darling (Lukas Mayo) who gives the track a very plucky arrangement as backing to his and Stokes’ voices. Quite lovely and definitely worth a few coins in the guitar case. – Russell Baillie
Nada
By Olivia Foa’i
An Australian-based solo star from the Te Vaka family who won Best Pacific Artist in 2019 with her debut album Candid, Olivia Foa’i recently picked up Pacific Music awards for her 2020 Sunlight single and the Tokelau-language Mai Anamua (the theme to the award-winning documentary Pacific Mother.) This new single from her forthcoming album Tūmau Pea (“everlasting”) is a slow-jam steamer and smart introduction to the album, which bridges thoughtful, slo-mo soul, trip-hop, R’n’B and pop. – Graham Reid
Come, Put a Record On
By Ebony Lamb
Wistful and languid weariness from one half of alt-country duo Eb and Sparrow and recent long-list finalist in the Silver Scrolls (for last year’s Take My Hands at Night), Lamb further signals her self-titled debut after her previous single, the more folk-pop Salt Sand Sea. The album is through Nadia Reid’s Slow Time Records and was recorded with Bic Runga, Kody Nielson and collaborator Gram Antler. A lot of promising associations there. – Graham Reid
Wet
By Dick Move
The 2020 debut album, Chop, by this Auckland four-piece was just 18½ minutes long; their new one — of which the salacious and enjoyably foul-mouthed Wet is the title track — is just four minutes longer. Like a ram raid through a guitar store window — in and out in less than two minutes — Dick Move punk up the volume and rock’n’roll intensity. File alongside the Ramones, D4 and Ratso. – Graham Reid
Splinters
By Hollie Col
Aussie singer-songwriter and self-confessed Lumineers fan Hollie Col marries the band’s melancholic folk vibes with her emotional vocals, making for a heart-wrenching, love lost kind of tale. Col had sung a version of Splinters on her Instagram a while ago to her devoted following but has now cemented it as an official track on her acoustic EP Julia Stevens (From My Bedroom). While her songwriting ability is impressive, it’s Col’s unique sound that seems to stay with you most. – Alana Rae
Windowsills
By THALA
A 2000s coming-of-age movie-credits guitar riff drives Windowsills, a new release from THALA’s upcoming EP twotwentytwo. Her vocals certainly match the level of nostalgia brought on in the instrumentation - something THALA says is exactly what she wants. With a vocal strikingly similar to the soft, husky beabadobee, Windowsills is an upbeat, catchy start to an EP, which hopefully has a few similar gems tucked under its sleeve. – Alana Rae
Haydn, Symphony No 45.
By Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt conductor.
Haydn’s “Farewell” symphony is one of history’s subtlest labour protests. It is 1772, Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy and his court are spending an overlong season at the royal country estate. Among them, the musicians, hand-picked by the prince’s kapellmeister (conductor), Joseph Haydn. Desperate to return to their families, the players appeal to their boss. Haydn’s response is this symphony. During the work’s final movement, a musician snuffs out the candle he uses to illuminate his score, then quietly leaves the stage. Another follows, then another and another. Finally, just two violinists are left, one of them Haydn, and the piece draws to a muted close. The next day, Haydn’s musicians are given permission to return to Vienna. Enjoy your Labour Weekend. – Richard Betts
