News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Rosé One Fourth of the Biggest K-Pop Band on Earth

Rosé One Fourth of the Biggest K-Pop Band on Earth

With their new album just around the corner, Jennie, Jisoo, Auckland-born Rosé, and Lisa are on the periphery of global success. Vogue’s Taylor Glasby examines how in just four years BLACKPINK became one of…

Multi-Talented Producer Yuki Releases Debut Album

Multi-Talented Producer Yuki Releases Debut Album

Yuki’s goal in life is to avoid staying dormant creatively, according to Ryan Feyre writing for online music news platform, Atwood Magazine. Homogeneity in music is never a good thing when there’s too much…

Xenia Pestova Bennett Makes Best of Bandcamp

Xenia Pestova Bennett Makes Best of Bandcamp

Every two months, Bandcamp will feature some of the best composer-driven music to surface on the online music site, music that “makes room for electronic experimentation, improvisation, and powerful takes on old classics”. In…

Benee’s Hit Supalonely Gets Lockdowners Dancing

Benee’s Hit Supalonely Gets Lockdowners Dancing

The irony of a song she wrote about loneliness going viral during a global lockdown is not lost on Auckland pop singer Stella Bennett, aka Benee, George Fenwick reports for London’s Evening Standard. Benee…

Behind the Board with Music Producer Joel Little

Behind the Board with Music Producer Joel Little

Grammy-winning producer/songwriter Auckland-born Joel Little, 37, tells The Recording Academy’s website about his path of starting a band, a record label and a successful studio career. A guitar player since the age of 13, Little’s…

Country Singer Tami Neilson Pulls Out the Big Guns

Country Singer Tami Neilson Pulls Out the Big Guns

The seven women who are “leading the charge” in country music in 2020, according to Kath Devaney reporting for the ABC include New Zealand-based performer, Tami Neilson. “It has been said that women in country…

NPR Excited About Folk Singer Holly Arrowsmith

NPR Excited About Folk Singer Holly Arrowsmith

New Zealander Holly Arrowsmith has made NPR’s Austin 100 list, compiled of musicians who would otherwise be performing at the annual SXSW music festival, now shutdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic. “Arrowsmith writes languid, yearning…

Yumi Zouma’s Latest Is Album of the Week

Yumi Zouma’s Latest Is Album of the Week

Earlier this month, the New Zealand band Yumi Zouma “who splits their time between Wellington, London and New York, unleashed their third full length album Truth Or Consequences, into the world”, Poppy Reid writes…

Death Metal Band Ulcerate Warp Time in New Track

Death Metal Band Ulcerate Warp Time in New Track

New Zealand extreme-metal outfit Ulcerate, which formed in Auckland in 2000, “privileges atmosphere over speed in one of its grandest, most unsettling tracks to date,” Rolling Stone magazine correspondent Hank Shteamer writes. “Fifty years on…

On the Road With Singer-Songwriter Tami Neilson

On the Road With Singer-Songwriter Tami Neilson

Born and raised in Canada and currently based out of New Zealand, Tami Neilson has been on the road for three decades. “From the age of 12, I was on tour all across North…

Composer Annea Lockwood at Chicago Festival

Composer Annea Lockwood at Chicago Festival

Chicago’s Frequency Festival has become a crucial showcase for the movement of “new music”, according to Aaron Cohen reporting for Chicago Tribune. New Zealand-born and New York-based composer Annea Lockwood exemplifies the festival’s idiomatic…

Nadia Reid Would Like to Go to Canada With You

Nadia Reid Would Like to Go to Canada With You

Nadia Reid’s “Oh Canada” isn’t a cover of the country’s national anthem, but that doesn’t stop the Dunedin-born musician from honouring some of her favourite Canadian singer-songwriters on her new song, Kevin Rutherford writes…

Newfound Lightness in Sarah Mary Chadwick Sound

Newfound Lightness in Sarah Mary Chadwick Sound

“ singer-songwriter has discussed the immense pain of grief, the weight of…

Lorde’s Smash Hit Royals Defines a Decade

Lorde’s Smash Hit Royals Defines a Decade

American magazine Billboard celebrated the 2010s with essays on the 100 songs that they felt most defined the decade that was, including Lorde’s hit single, “Royals”. “When ‘Royals’ arrived in June 2013, not many listeners…

Alien Weaponry Earns Finnish Accolades

Alien Weaponry Earns Finnish Accolades

Te Reo Māori heavy metal band Alien Weaponry’s debut LP has been named album of the decade by readers of online Finnish music publication, Tuonela Magazine. “In Tū, Alien Weaponry wield their crunchy thrash sound…

Next Stop Halifax for Conductor Holly Mathieson

Next Stop Halifax for Conductor Holly Mathieson

After an extensive search, Dunedin-born Holly Mathieson, 38, will head to Halifax, Canada in January 2020 to begin working with the 37-piece Symphony Nova Scotia, Victoria Walton reports for HalifaxToday. “Music’s been a part of…

LA-Based Eden Iris Shares New Soulful Single

LA-Based Eden Iris Shares New Soulful Single

Every six weeks, New Zealander Eden Iris will release a new single. Timed perfectly, when these tracks run dry it will be just in time for the release of the singer and songwriter’s debut…

Aldous Harding Holding Our Focus

Aldous Harding Holding Our Focus

New Zealand musician Aldous Harding is popular: she’s sold out shows for her tour and headlines London’s Roundhouse next month. Young women who present themselves as she does, daring you to turn away, are…

Tūī Winner Benee Has a Vision

Tūī Winner Benee Has a Vision

Aucklander Benee, otherwise known as Stella Bennett, who claimed four Tūīs at this year’s Vodafone Music Awards, talked to Billboard’s Gab Ginsberg in the United States recently about her latest EP, Stella & Steve,…

Glasgow-Based MOY Pop Star in Waiting

Glasgow-Based MOY Pop Star in Waiting

“With only two live shows and two singles behind him, MOY, 23, is already showing signs that he’s a real contender,” Scottish Sun music journalist Jim Gellatly writes. “The New Zealander from Auckland was…

Singer Jamie McDell Celebrates Her Own Perspective

Singer Jamie McDell Celebrates Her Own Perspective

New Zealand alt-country guitarist and singer-songwriter Jamie McDell, 26, has just released her introspective Botox EP. Music magazine Billboard reports on the set and how it all came about. McDell enchants with airy vocals…

Annabel Liddell Happy to Mix Medicine and Music

Annabel Liddell Happy to Mix Medicine and Music

New Zealander Annabel Liddell, 25, recently completed six years of medical study in Auckland and will graduate in November, but she’s held off on a job offer and is deferring registration, which requires her…

Welsh Appointment for Conductor Tianyi Lu

Welsh Appointment for Conductor Tianyi Lu

Welsh National Opera (WNO) recently announced New Zealander Tianyi Lu as its first female conductor in residence. The residency was launched to help re-address the gender balance across the industry, following WNO’s ‘Where Are All…

Aaradhna’s India Tour Was a Soul-Searching Trip

Aaradhna’s India Tour Was a Soul-Searching Trip

With four successful albums to her credit and glowing reviews around the world, award-winning singer Aaradhna, 35, who grew up in Porirua, was recently on a tour of India. Here’s what the ‘Brown Girl’…

Cellist Richard Belcher Appointed in Minnesota

Cellist Richard Belcher Appointed in Minnesota

New Zealander Richard Belcher, founding cellist of Grammy-nominated Enso String Quartet, has been appointed to The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) in Minnesota, the Violin Channel reports. A graduate of Yale University, where he studied…

Meet Gold Coast-Based Rapper Saint Lane

Meet Gold Coast-Based Rapper Saint Lane

There’s something about Saint Lane that’s impossible to ignore, according to GQ Australia which features the New Zealand-born, Gold Coast-based rapper who has dropped a total of three tracks to date – a discography…

Jordan Rakei’s Third Album Shifts Focus

Jordan Rakei’s Third Album Shifts Focus

“Jordan Rakei, the New Zealand-born, Australia-raised collaborator who quickly made a name for himself within London’s varied music scene, has shifted his focus on Origin,” according to Exclaim! reviewer Anna Alger. “Rakei’s third record…

Ten Things You Need to Know About Benee

Ten Things You Need to Know About Benee

This 19-year-old Kiwi rules, according to i-D writer Alim Kheraj in a profile of Auckland pop star Benee (formerly Bene) for the British magazine. Pop is amazing when it kind of confuses you, when songs…

Latest Alan Broadbent Trio Album Well-Received

Latest Alan Broadbent Trio Album Well-Received

“When listening to , you may imagine that your ears have become just a little sharper. That’s how hearing Alan Broadbent’s piano playing often strikes me anyway,” UK jazz critic Dave Gelly…

At the Organ with Sarah Mary Chadwick

At the Organ with Sarah Mary Chadwick

Sarah Mary Chadwick’s artistic output has been an ideal combination of quality and quantity, according to Robert Ham who Skype interviews the New Zealand musician for monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, Paste. Chadwick…

Aldous Harding Entices with Taunts and Teases

Aldous Harding Entices with Taunts and Teases

In an article for Singapore’s The Straits Times, Yeow Kai Chai reviews Auckland-born singer-songwriter Aldous Harding’s latest album, Designer. “Any attempt to pin down Harding is a foolhardy venture, especially when the songstress is not predisposed to…

Kimbra Hits Mexico on World Tour

Kimbra Hits Mexico on World Tour

New Zealand-born Kimbra was in Mexico recently performing as part of her worldwide Primal Hearts tour. Alejandro Mancilla interviewed the singer for GQ México. A resident of New York City for the past three years,…

Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe Interviews Taylor Swift

Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe Interviews Taylor Swift

New Zealander Zane Lowe “tried his best to pull some more Easter eggs out of Taylor Swift during her midday interview on Apple’s Beats 1 Live show”, according to a Billboard story, “but even…

Aldous Harding’s Designer Dances on Different Feet

Aldous Harding’s Designer Dances on Different Feet

Aldous Harding is happy that her music makes people feel uncertain. The New Zealand-born singer-songwriter recalls a special moment when somebody confessed to her that Designer, Harding’s third record, made them question their taste. “That…

Home Truths With Jazz-Leaning Popster BLAKE

Home Truths With Jazz-Leaning Popster BLAKE

“BLAKE is a New Zealand-born songwriter who has navigated her way to the UK, finding a new home in London’s dense network of creative communities,” Robin Murray writes for Clash magazine. “Along the way she’s…

UMO Brings Intimate Rock Feel to Oregon Gig

UMO Brings Intimate Rock Feel to Oregon Gig

Ruban Nielson, New Zealand-born singer and guitarist of Unknown Mortal Orchestra excitedly addressed the sold-out crowd at the WOW Hall, in Eugene, Oregon. “What’s up, Eugene? You alright?” Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO) brought a…

Sarah Mary Chadwick’s Latest is Otherworldly

Sarah Mary Chadwick’s Latest is Otherworldly

“The mix of New Zealand-born singer agony and the hope of the organ she’s playing makes for a compelling listen,” according to Kory Grow in a review of Chadwick’s new song,…

Singer Kelsey Karter Is Only Getting Started

Singer Kelsey Karter Is Only Getting Started

“A raw rock n’ roll outbreak of ecstasy and intimacy, ‘What U’ asserts Kelsy Karter, 24, as a genre-defying talent everyone deserves to hear,” according to Mitch Mosk, editor-in-chief of music journal Atwood…

Singer Paula Parore Channels Aretha Franklin

Singer Paula Parore Channels Aretha Franklin

New Zealand-born Paula Parore will perform a captivating tribute to songstress Aretha Franklin in Kalgoorlie-Boulder next month, but the singer’s professional career has not always hinged on the performing arts. A self-confessed sports fanatic, Parore…

Tamaryn’s Voice Channels Newfound Intensity

Tamaryn’s Voice Channels Newfound Intensity

In the Los Angeles apartment of New Zealander Tamaryn – one of the most underrated artists in the world of gothic-synthpop – a TV screen is always on a loop featuring classic ‘80s music…

PRINS on Visual Side of Music & Her New Single ‘Notion’

PRINS on Visual Side of Music & Her New Single ‘Notion’

“Fresh off the release of her incredible new single Notion,” music magazine Happy “caught up with New Zealand-based artist PRINS for a chat.” When asked how it feels to have

Krispy and the Pooch Unveil Irresistible New EP

Krispy and the Pooch Unveil Irresistible New EP

“What do you expect from a band named Krispy & The Pooch? Approaching their music, we weren’t too sure,” Sydney music site, Happy reports. “With their wild band name and even wilder cover art,…

Jess Cornelius’ Sudsy Self-Reckoning on Display

Jess Cornelius’ Sudsy Self-Reckoning on Display

In recent years, self-care culture has exploded beyond simple millennial infatuation; the term, which refers to the conscious integration of health and wellness practices into daily life, is equal parts lifestyle manifesto and multi-billion…

In Conversation with the Band Yak

In Conversation with the Band Yak

One of “the most exciting acts around both on stage and on record” is called Yak, according to music site, The 405. Together the Wolverhampton-formed trio, including New Zealand-born drummer Elliot Rawson (pictured centre), talk…

Mark de Clive-Lowe’s New Album Goes Next Level

Mark de Clive-Lowe’s New Album Goes Next Level

“For those who recognise Mark de Clive-Lowe’s name from this or that compilation disc, his new straight-up jazz effort is the most pleasant surprise of the new year. Others who follow the…

K-Pop Singer Rosé’s Ballad a YouTube Phenomenon

K-Pop Singer Rosé’s Ballad a YouTube Phenomenon

BLACKPINK Rosé’s special cover of Halsey’s “Eyes Closed”, accrued almost 5.4 million views in just two days. The Auckland-born vocalist, 22, said the clip was meant for her fans and thanked them…

New Tiny Ruins Album Gentle Study in Freedom

New Tiny Ruins Album Gentle Study in Freedom

“After an extended search for inspiration, New Zealand singer/songwriter uses colour and newly adventurous song structures to explore definitions and limits of freedom,” Pitchfork contributor Margaret Farrell writes in…

Dames Jools and Lynda Topp Reflect

Dames Jools and Lynda Topp Reflect

Their career spans 40 years and is emblematic of changing attitudes to gay and lesbian people. New Zealand’s Topp Twins, Jools and Lynda, started their lives in entertainment as “underground performers’ with a unique…

Flight of the Conchords Announce New Album

Flight of the Conchords Announce New Album

New Zealand’s “fourth most popular parody duo” Flight of the Conchords have announced a new live album to follow their 2018 HBO special Flight of the Conchords: Live in London. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie…

YouTube Picks Its New Zealand Artists to Watch

YouTube Picks Its New Zealand Artists to Watch

As part of YouTube’s ‘Artists to Watch’ 2019 spotlight, the video-sharing website has highlighted 10 acts from New Zealand and Australia which it predicts are going to create tsunamis this year. The line-up includes…

Acclaimed DJ Opiuo Returns to Colorado

Acclaimed DJ Opiuo Returns to Colorado

New Zealand-born DJ and producer Oscar Davey-Wraight, who performs as Opiuo, solidified his place in the annals of Colorado music history last April with a groundbreaking and by-all-accounts epic one-night performance with a 20-piece…

More Career Firsts for Conductor Gemma New

More Career Firsts for Conductor Gemma New

New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New is building a resume with lots of little “first-ever” asterisks. Like her months-old appointment as principal guest conductor of the Dallas Symphony beginning in the 2019-20 season. Recently, New…

Fifteen Minutes With Pop Singer Robinson

Fifteen Minutes With Pop Singer Robinson

Nelson-born artist Robinson, 21, is no stranger to impressing international crowds, having toured Europe earlier this year with Hayley Kiyoko. Now, with singles like the intensely romantic ‘Medicine’ under her belt, the pop singer is…

The Beths & UMO – Must-Hear Indie Albums

The Beths & UMO – Must-Hear Indie Albums

Two albums by New Zealand artists have made UPROXX’ list of must-hear Indie albums of 2018: Future Me Hates Me (The Beths) and Sex & Food (Unknown Mortal Orchestra). “What happens…

Marlon Williams Album One of 2018’s Best

Marlon Williams Album One of 2018’s Best

Marlon Williams album Make Way For Love has been ranked among the 50 best albums (#34) of 2018 in an article by ABC News. “What’s Chasing You drew me into Make…

Vocalist & Poet Kimbra “Meant For the Stage”

Vocalist & Poet Kimbra “Meant For the Stage”

“Kimbra is brave. She came clean with her emotions in her Songs from Primal Heart: Reimagined, as reported in an article on WGN Radio’s website, which reviewed the New Zealand…