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Marlon Williams Pops Up in Lady Gaga Film
Oscar-nominated Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper’s film, A Star Is Born, featuring Lady Gaga in the lead female role, has been generating steady awards buzz since debuting at the Venice…
NZ’s Best Live Music Venues
“Having just returned from a trip across the pond I can safely say New Zealand is like no other,” writes Jareth Leslie-Evans in an article in Australian based online…
Musician Julien Dyne Ups the Tempo on Teal
New Zealander Julien Dyne’s forthcoming album Teal is “a joyful exploration of afro-influenced percussive house and electronic soul”, according to Anton Spice writing for Britain’s music and arts enterprise,…
Robinson Releases Heartachingly Honest “Medicine”
“Robinson’s upbeat electronic pop anthem ‘Nothing To Regret,’ has over 50 million streams online, and went gold in her home of New Zealand. Now, she’s seeking global stardom with…
Rosé a New Zealand-Born K-Pop Idol
A member of one of the most popular female K-pop girl groups, Auckland-born Park Chae Young, aka Rosé, 21, is gaining popularity in her own right for the sweet…
Gemma New Leads St. Louis Symphony Opener
This month, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) opens its 2018/2019 season on 22 and 23 September, at Powell Hall. Resident conductor, New Zealander Gemma…
Broods Release “Lovably Bizarre” Video for “Peach”
Brother-sister duo “Broods are back with a new music video for ‘Peach,’ marking the first visuals for their upcoming album, which…
Lorde Is an Author of Adolescent Evolution
“You could drink the water content out of the air the first time I heard Lorde on the radio,” according to South Florida-based NPR journalist Cyrena Touros. “Spun between…
Superorganism Adapts to Remixes and Popularity
The press has embraced Superorganism not just for its cuddly psychedelia, but also for its story – eight members, including a fresh-out-of-high-school Japanese-American lead singer, who have come together…
Rising Star Robinson Hits Huge Streaming Figures
Young New Zealand singer-songwriter who goes by just her surname, Robinson, has had a lot to get excited about recently, NME reports. Her latest tune “Nothing to Regret” has…
Neil Finn and Son Liam Get Dreamy on Lightsleeper
“Lightsleeper is the result of another crowded house at the Finn residence. The album principals, father Neil and son Liam, get the rest of the family involved – mother…
Connan Mockasin Announces LP and Film Project
“It’s been a little while since we’ve heard from he has emerged with no small amount of ambitious projects,” Rob Hakimian writes…
Michael Brett Draws on Bram Stoker for Ballet Score
The task of piecing together the music for the West Australian Ballet production of Dracula has fallen to the company’s Auckland-born music coordinator, Michael Brett.
The assignment extended to Brett…
Neil and Liam Finn Video Premieres
Despite its young cast, Neil and Liam Finn’s new video for guitar ballad “Anger Plays a Part” deals with grown-up problems in the real world. The single is on the duo’s new album,…
2008 Ladyhawke Debut Still Resounds
“ Barack Obama became the first African-American to be elected President of the…
Get to Know the Brother-Sister Duo Broods
New Zealand duo Broods, comprised of Georgia and Caleb Nott, explain to Billboard magazine that they were born in Blenheim, but grew up in a town called Nelson. The…
Smokescreens Blend NZ Pop and NY Art Rock
Smokescreens is a New Zealand band currently based in Los Angeles. Founded by Chris Rosi following the demise of his previous band, Plateaus, the group recently performed at the…
Conductor Gemma New Expands Her Horizons in Boston
It’s been a summer of unicorns and rainbows for New Zealand-born Gemma New, according to the Hamilton Spectator’s Leonard Turnevicius. For the second summer in a row, New, music…
Rolling Stone Loves The Beths’ Future Me
This spring, Elizabeth Stokes, 27, quit her day job teaching trumpet to kids in Auckland. The reason: She was ready to tour the world with The Beths, the exuberant…
Royals Makes Top Best Female Songs of the Century
An NPR Music list of the 200 Greatest Songs by 21st Century Women has put Lorde’s debut smash hit, the 2013 “Royals”, in the top 10.
According to NPR, the…
Wax Chattels Pursue Post-Punk with Manic Fervour
“There are few record labels out there that have come to define an entire country’s quality independent music output. Flying Nun Records did that for New Zealand,” Adam McKinney…
Marlon Williams on His Writing Process
The most popular and persistent myth attached to the songwriting process is that artists are driven by an absolute, desperate need to do it. As cliché has it, there’s…
How Lorde Defied Misogyny and Expectations
It is a just over a year ago since the release of Lorde’s second album, Melodrama. Ordinarily, a retrospective would be premature, but Melodrama already merits one, according to…
Ruban Nielson Talks Music & NZ Artists
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s “lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Ruban Nielson takes influence from a diverse group of artists ranging from Stevie Wonder to punk act the Buzzcocks to musical iconoclast Frank Zappa,”…
Cellist Yuuki Bouterey-Ishido Exhilarates
“On the last flaming day of June, a packed Lancaster Town Hall stood at the end to acclaim another Haffner Orchestra’s triumphant summer concert. The star of the show…
Kimbra & DAWN’s ‘Version of Me’ A Vision of Solidarity
“When New Zealand singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Kimbra dropped her third album, Primal Heart this past spring, it proved to be a cohesive marriage of her best ideas to-date,”…
Bassist Matt Penman’s Collection Balanced and Fluid
Originally from New Zealand, bassist Matt Penman has lived in New York since 1995. His new collection, Good Question is reviewed by Mike Hobart for the Financial Times.
According to Hobart,…
On Stage at London’s All Points East with Lorde
New Zealand super star Lorde’s recent performance at London’s inaugural All Points East festival incited “sheer pandemonium”, according to DIY magazine.
“Lorde follows on the North Stage,…
UMO Frontman Ruban Nielson on Musical Eclecticism
In search of a new direction after three critically acclaimed psychedelic indie rock records, 38-year-old New Zealander Ruban Nielson, frontman of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, took to the road to…
Folk Singer Mel Parsons Touring US
Award-winning singer-songwriter New Zealander Mel Parsons, 36, recently performed as part of the Concerts in the Woods series in Coyle, Washington.
“We are very lucky to have Mel Parsons make…
Pop Singer Robinson Has Nothing to Regret
New Zealand singer-songwriter Robinson, 21, has been likened to other local trailblazers who are known for leading fans along a pathway set out by their own standards while exploring…
Marlon Williams Offers Something for Everyone
Christchurch-born singer-songwriter Marlon Williams is currently touring New Zealand promoting his second studio album Make Way for Love. His recent performance in Melbourne is reviewed by Eve Fisher for…
Ngā Parirau o te Kārearea a Spectacular EP
New Zealand-born experimental producer Fis and sound artist Rob Thorne’s collaborative EP Ngā Parirau o te Kārearea, a follow up to last year’s acclaimed Clear Stones, is included in…
Genre-Defying Kimbra Traverses New Territory
There’s something that connects the music of Skrillex and Paul Simon – some place where these opposite ends of the musical spectrum meet. New Zealander Kimbra, 28, is sure…
Brazil Readies for Connan Mockasin
New Zealand singer-songwriter Connan Mockasin will head to Brazil in November after the release of two new albums in October.
“There were some invitations to go,…
The Beths Look to the Future
The Beths is an Auckland guitar pop group who recently signed to Washington DC-based Carpark Records for the release of their debut album Future Me Hates Me, due out…
Gang of Youths’ Max Dunn Talks to Rolling Stone
Founded in Sydney six years ago, Gang of Youths, which includes New Zealander Max Dunn on bass, are getting their share of attention in America after releasing two hit…
Marlon Williams Accompanies Wild Wild Country
Despite working with a “micro-budget”, music supervisor Chris Swanson weaves an inspired sonic accompaniment to the Netflix hit Wild Wild Country, a documentary about the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan…
DIY Picks Matthew Young’s New Single
Every weekday, Britain’s DIY magazine brings you one essential new release to get obsessed with. This recent ‘Neu Pick’ comes from Auckland-based Matthew Young.
Young is releasing new EP Fruit…
Kimbra Displays Impressive Range On ‘Primal Heart’
“If there’s any musical justice, Kimbra’s third studio album should be the one that finally catapults the New Zealander to the acclaim she deserves,” writes Mark Kennedy in a…
UMO Frontman Ruban Nielson Keeps it Dumb
On 2015’s Multi-Love, New Zealand-born Ruban Nielson, 38, frontman of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, saw his personal life laid out and analysed. Now, on the band’s fourth LP Sex &…
Jamie McClennan Takes His Family on Tour
New Zealand-born songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jamie McClennan and Scottish singer Emily Smith have been making country folk music together for 15 years. Now they tour for the first time…
Neil Finn to Join Fleetwood Mac
Legendary band Fleetwood Mac has announced that Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will replace departing guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.
The band’s firing…
Lorde Scripts a Party and Then Brings It
Lorde’s “fast-paced, yet emotionally resonant show at TD Garden” in Boston “was a superlative showcase” for her second album Melodrama, Maura Johnston writes in a review of the recent…
Ruban Nielson and Taika Waititi Talk NZ Roots
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson and filmmaker Taika Waititi come together over Skype to talk #PolynesianExcellence, and how their New Zealand roots help them keep…
Tami Neilson Drops New “Sassy, brassy soul number” ‘Stay Outta My Business’
“Silver Scroll-winning soul artist Tami Neilson has shared a brassy new tune Stay Outta My Business and announced her forthcoming album Sassafrass! will be dropping…
Opiuo to Take 20-Piece Syzygy Orchestra to Colorado
New Zealand-born, Australian-based electro-funk DJ Opiuo (Oscar Davey-Wraight) will travel to Colorado for a headlining show at Red Rocks on 21 April.
After last year’s Red Rocks performance before Emancipator,…
Soul Singer Jordan Rakei Caters Directly to Fans
Jordan Rakei’s first SXSW appearance was also his first time setting foot in the state of Texas, one of the few areas of the world he had yet to…
Alien Weaponry’s Furious Debut Tū Out in June
Three teenagers from the tiny Northland town of Waipu have managed to capture imaginations with their unique thrash metal sound and commanding live performances.
Now, Alien…
Kimbra Finds New Version of Self in Primal Heart
New York-based New Zealand-born “self-actualised star and feminist pop warrior” Kimbra, 27, is back with a new album and another version of herself, according to Interview magazine’s Erica Russell.
The…
Lorde’s Portland Performance “As Intimate as Her Dinner Table”
New Zealand pop poet Lorde, born Ella Yelich-O’Connor, manages to make even the largest venues feel intimate, writes Sararosa Davies in a review of the singer’s Portland concert in…
Broods’ Georgia Nott Talks The Venus Project
In response to a lack of female representation on stage and in the studio, Georgia Nott – who most people will know as part of the New Zealand music…
Witch Rockers HEX Are Here to Curse the Patriarchy
Wellington folk metal band HEX have “got the ‘slightly spooky dark rock’ formula down pat, but aren’t afraid to mix it up with a bit of sneering garage rock,…
Producer Obeisant Busy at His Catalogue
Music producer Sebastian Gawlik, aka Obeisant, is an artist from New Zealand who got a mighty push in 2017 when he was discovered by the Critical label and included in their Binary…
Keala Settle Praised for Oscars Performance
“When she found herself center stage at the Oscars Sunday night” Singer Keala Settle “brought down the house with” her performance of ‘This Is Me’, “bringing an entire theater…
Jon Stevens Takes Best Of Tour to NSW
“After a career spanning decades, rock musician Jon Stevens has finally taken time to reflect on his greatest hits — and take them on the road” with his ‘best…
