Recorded and produced in Wellington throughout 2023 and produced by James Goldsmith (DARTZ, Wiri Donna, Recitals) Certain Death is a cinematic autobiography of the period immediately following the full development of Dawson’s pre-frontal cortex. ‘Certain Death’ is a maximalist and dramatic treatise on growing up!

The album truly shines a light on his captivating vocals and clever songwriting, It’s about as honest as he’s ever going to be. “This record took a lot out of me. I did a lot of staring at the ceiling and scratching my head, like do I really want to go there? Some things are better left in the ground, and this one felt like exhuming my own remains”.

New Zealand’s Phoebe Rings announce their debut album, Aseurai, today with a pair of new singles “Aseurai” and “Drifting.” On Aseurai, due June 6th on Carpark Records, the quartet, led by NZ jazz-school-trained pianist and songwriter Crystal Choi, adds disco and city-pop influences while staying true to the dream-pop sound of their self-titled EP. “Aseurai means around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away,” Choi says. “It’s a poetic expression. You wouldn’t say it in normal conversation, but I like that.”

While Phoebe Rings was originally a solo project of Choi’s, Aseurai marks a shift with contributing songwriting credits from the whole band, which includes Guitar/synthesist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, bassist Benjamin Locke and drummer/producer Alex Freer. The four musicians cut their teeth working on other notable NZ projects such as Princess Chelsea, Fazerdaze, Tiny Ruins, AC Freazy, Sea Views and Lucky Boy^. With a more ambitious collection of instruments, Choi says this album heralds the start of true collaboration: “I feel more precious about this LP because it includes everyone’s gems.” The broth is richer with more cooks in the kitchen, and the brewing of textures creates a distinct ‘Phoebe Rings’ sound.

For his second full-length LP and most realised release as Serebii yet, the artist had one thing he had to overcome first: he was “terrified” of himself. Serebii (aka Callum Mower) shares the story behind his latest live video for 'Goji': "After three years apart, myself and dear friend Skud Gumbosi decided to do what we both missed dearly and write music together. 

We spent a good portion of the day working on this Bossa groove with some chords Skud pulled from his back pocket. By the end of the session we both knew we had something special but felt the ideas were far too sluggish for our liking. As you can imagine the only downside to this is that you’d need to start the song from scratch in this new BPM and key, but that meant we would get to spend another day in each other’s company, and so we did just that.

“London Buses” is the second single from Andy Bassett’s Surface Noise EP. Returning to the more guitar-pop-oriented sound of his earlier work, he forgoes the orchestral arrangements featured heavily on the EP’s title track and its predecessor, his 2022 album The Orchid Thief.

Playing all the instruments himself, augmented by creamy smooth harmonies from fellow Taranaki singer-songwriter Liana Hart, Bassett describes a “Sliding Doors” moment, where life could have gone one of two ways, and celebrates the path he ultimately took – without revealing what that was!“It was a good gig,We had a good time,And good things Arrive in threes Like London buses

”SPOILER ALERT: The specific moment – the third good thing - that inspired this song was when he asked his now-wife Sue Page on a date

.“Starting out with just acoustic guitar, bass, and drums, the song opens up at the first chorus. A beautiful vocal harmony accompanies the chorus vocals, and some tasty electric guitar parts begin to complement the instrumentation. The end of the second chorus gives way to a change in feel, the chord progression and lead guitar creating a tension that resolves back into a call-and-response style rendering of the first verse, with lush vocal harmonies contributing to the beauty of the song.”– Peter K Malthus, muzic.net.nz

New Zealand musician Kayleb Duckett is back with his latest single, Airport, the second single from his upcoming album Speechless Housefire. The song is paired with a unique music video featuring Kayleb piloting a plane over his hometown of New Plymouth.

Recorded entirely by himself, the track’s layered instrumentation and driving rhythm make it a standout in his growing catalog of infectious, off-kilter guitar pop. Airport highlights Kayleb's ongoing development of his signature homegrown production style.

The single and music video are available on all streaming platforms from today.

Speechless Housefire will be available from March 6. To celebrate, Kayleb and his band will perform an album release show at Mike’s Bistro in New Plymouth on Friday, March 21, with support from The Moustaches and Wilforce.

Aotearoa/New Zealand indie savant Mim Jensen is a trailblazer. Over two years of sharing hook-laden and emotional rock n’ roll across both sides of the Tasman Sea, she has graced countless festivals and headline shows. The NZ Herald triumphs her as “...one of the most compelling front-people in Aotearoa.”

Mim Jensen’s sophomore EP Shadow of the Gift centres her in her healing era and is a symbol of her growth and journey as an artist and an individual. Shadow of the Gift takes you on a journey of introspection and longing.

The first single to be released off SHADOW OF THE GIFT was ‘Same Blood’, unveiled at the end of last November, which was closely followed by last single ‘Past Life’ at the end of January. Now the third and final single drop before the EP release is ‘Safe In Body’, a banger of a track that is set to be scooped up by US college and student radio stations far and wide.

Ngāmotu artist Paul Martin release "We're All Fine" is the single from an upcoming 4 track EP due to be released in the coming months. It deals with the issue of endemic use of antidepressant medication in our modern culture and questions if those of us living on these drugs are really living our best life?

Described as a great song to cry & dance too with a sound reminiscent of The Killers. Recorded and produced by Sam Johnson at Rhythm Ace in Oakura.

The latest release from THIS LITTLE BADGE is the 4-track EP 'The Album Of The Year'. Songwriter and front-man of THIS LITTLE BADGE Dave Pope will be performing this, and many more of their catalogue. Expect acoustic, electric guitars, Pope singing karaoke, and maybe a kazoo.

Pope cut his teeth in the early 80s in England, playing in a punk/pop band. He quickly shook off those shackles and expanded his musical tastes. Old time loves include: The Fall, The Ruts, Robert Wyatt, and Mark Hollis (Talk Talk). New flames include: PJ Harvey, King Krule, Baxter Dury, and Oddfellow Casino.

I wrote this song for the Play It Strange Nationals Peace Song competition 2024 and was selected as a National Finalist. As a prize I got to work with Auckland based Producer EDY on it, and it's being released as a single under Imani-J and on the Play It Strange Album. The song is about how I feel like we are currently living in a world full of violence, hardship and suffering and about how some people choose to turn a blind eye to this because it’s easier to pretend not to see it. I want this song to get people thinking and reflecting and I really hope they choose to not be blind.

Moemoeā is a duo (Sherrie Flanagan and Chloe Danz) born in the vintage of 1984, hailing from the sunny east coast region of Hawkes Bay and both landed in Ōpunakē at different points where the journey of Moemoeā began.

Chloe Danz known for solo performances and recording with Unintended Strangers and Sherrie Flanagan (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Mutunga) performing with Te Aiotanga o Houkura, Unity Wara Entertainment and King of the Mountain met at Opunake Players Incorporated through Heatwave a singing quintet.

After a night at Taranaki Singer songwriters in New Plymouth they were inspired to collaborate. Their first song quickly came together following an easy partnership, with Sherrie’s strength in writing and Chloe’s composition/melody.

Moemoeā released their first Debut EP Flicker on the 7th February 2025 after a year of recording and overwhelming support from their whānau, community and friends to release their harmonic sound.

The EP has been produced by Sam Johnson at Rhythm Ace Studios in Oakura over the last year and compromises of 5 tracks; Burn it down, Black Flicker, Monsters (the duo’s first music video), Regrets (released at the Taranaki Festival of Lights) and Switch off the newest release for the EP.