Cautious
by Thomston
Thomston popped up on people’s radars in the 2014 pop scene – a year in music looked back on fondly by millennials and the like. The NZ singer-songwriter’s new EP, Faithfully, features the titular track as well as a one-and-a-half-minute burst, Cautious. It’s very reminiscent of mid-2010s pop. Sweet and wholesome, like early Troye Sivan, and catchy as anything. – Alana Rae
Foolish
by Mermaidens
The third and final single from Mermaidens forthcoming self-titled third album retains a smidgen of their psychedelic moodiness but also drifts towards searing and sneering indie rock and passages of unease. Envelope once more pushed by one of this country’s smartest, consistently interesting, and unpredictable bands. – Graham Reid
Voyager
by Milk Tooth
Fuzzed-up experimental dream-cum-nightmare-rock from Poneke five-piece which, by refusing to settle in any genre, becomes a disruptive five minutes-plus piece of art-rock designed to grab attention from the noisy outset and drag you along on the roller-coaster until the airy final minute of Pacific allusions and sampled voices. It’s an odd but oddly appealing thing. – Graham Reid
Perfect
by The Veronicas
The Veronicas are striking while the iron is hot on the preppy pop-rock resurgence. While Perfect is borderline too formulaic in structure, it’s fun, nostalgic and a guaranteed hit for those who grew up with the Aussie twins, as well as those seeking out new songs in the trendy genre. The duo fully lean into it, too, with lyrics about defying the status quo and Blink-182′s Travis Baker on drums for good measure. – Alana Rae
The Way Down
by Black Smoke Trigger
Local songs helped by use of Auckland landmark in video #1: The Sky Tower was finished in 1997 and the sound of local hard rock outfit Black Smoke Trigger dates from a similar era, judging by the late-grunge period blast of The Way Down, the video of which uses Auckland’s tallest structure to vertiginous and hilarious effect. The many wigs also suggest Foo Fighters’ Learn to Fly clip was in the mix, and the cameo by Wayne Anderson must have blown the budget. How refreshing to see a guitar band from the hairy end of the spectrum – and one whose singer’s name is Baldrick – with a sense of humour. – Russell Baillie
Dancing in the Rain
by Kora
Local songs helped by use of Auckland landmark in video #2: Kora risk jinxing the weather at their outdoor festival appearances with this lyrically puddle-shallow slice of sunny pop-funk. But the dancing of Avneil Mohan up Queen St and its surrounds in the track’s video is a delight. They should take him on tour. – Russell Baillie
I Can’t Make You Love Me
by Joey Alexander
And now for something completely different #1: This 20-year-old New York-based Indonesian-born jazz pianist is already up to his seventh album — his debut released when he was 11 — and he has appeared at every major jazz festival to great acclaim and had Grammy nominations. Here, for late night listening, he deftly takes on Bonnie Raitt’s great ballad. Lower the lights. – Graham Reid
Singalong
by Jeremy Redmore
And now for something completely different #2: After his previous Sing Like a Unicorn (a song and picture book for under sevens) the former frontman of Auckland rockers Midnight Youth takes us further down the kids’-music whistling, everyone-join-in path to the beach campfire where the title tells the whole story. Like the simplest pop songs, this is annoyingly juvenile and memorable. Over sevens may find themselves singing it come summer. – Graham Reid
Celle qui fait tout mon tourment h 450
by Lea Desandre & Thomas Dunford
I’m bingeing on French music at the moment, and I can’t stop listening to Idylle, the latest from French-Italian mezzo Lea Desandre and Thomas Dunford. As a youngster, Desandre entered the starry orbit of Sara Mingardo, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, and my favourite singer, Véronique Gens. This piece by the Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier translates as “the one who causes all my torment” but the coquettishness of Desandre’s interpretation hints that she’s not beyond a little torment-causing of her own. – Richard Betts
