Electro-Pop Singer Theia Poised For Stardom
“Her name might not be that familiar around this part of the world just yet but things seem to be looking up for New Zealand singer Theia,” writes Suky Gill in an article for…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Norwegian-Kiwi Duo Anna of the North
The Norwegian-Kiwi duo “Anna of the North is a product of heartbreak, and the recovery that comes after,” writes Roisin O’Connor in an article for The Independent. “Anna Lotterud was working…
Lorde’s Pure Heroine Album One of the Best Albums Made by Teenagers
“The 21st century has spawned a whole host of stars who achieved global success before they were even legally allowed to toast it in America,” writes Jon O’Brien for Paste…
Producer Noah Slee’s Music Superbly Infectious
A New Zealander with Tongan heritage, soul singer and producer Noah Slee threw himself into underground music, using it as a means for him to piece together how he truly felt about himself, Robin…
Lost Gustav Holst Scores Turn Up in Tauranga
No one is sure how the handwritten scores of English composer Gustav Holst ended up in the archives of Tauranga’s Bay of Plenty Symphonia, Jason Daley writes for the Smithsonian magazine. A couple of years…
Hoseah Partsch to Tour With Boy George
Eighteen-year-old New Zealand-born Hoseah Partsch, who made it to The Voice Australia grand finale earlier this month, is preparing to tour with his mentor Boy George in Australia later this year. Partsch, who said he’s…
Arma Del Amor Take Back the Sea
New Zealand-born duo Arma Del Amor premiere their latest single Taking Back the Sea, “blending soulful bass with striking visuals,” EDM-culture blog Magnetic Magazine writes in a review. “Arma Del Amor is made up of…
Gin Wigmore’s Love Hate Relationship With Streaming
The New Zealander with the mighty voice Gin Wigmore is, like so many other recording artists, frustrated by the peanuts, which rain down from the world’s leading streaming service Spotify. Or let’s call it…
Style Icon Kimbra to Perform at Dior Event
Grammy Award-winning musician Kimbra, 27, will perform amongst a night of luxury food, wine and fashion at this year’s inaugural National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Gala in Australia to be held on 26 August. “Kimbra…
Fazerdaze Profile Grows Throughout Europe
Fazerdaze is New Zealand-based singer-songwriter Amelia Murray and her band who weave blissful, echo-drenched and semi-electronic production through bounding bedroom pop songs, Nick Linazasoro writes for Brighton & Hove News. Fazerdaze performs in Brighton…
Singer Nadia Reid Making Her Way to Ireland
New Zealand singer-songwriter Nadia Reid, 25, plays the second performance of her 34-date UK/European tour at Galway venue Róisín Dubh on 10 August. “ released the excellent Preservation this year, and is a name to…
Fat Freddy’s Drop Can’t Seem to Tour Enough
Arguably New Zealand’s most famous band, Fat Freddy’s Drop has just played another sold out show in Amsterdam. Communications strategist New Zealander Lucy von Sturmer talked with the band in the Netherlands’ capital where…
Producer Joel Little Dominates Billboard Charts
Auckland-born writer and producer Joel Little, 34, has his name in the Billboard music charts next to three different albums in the top 15, Stuff reports. Little worked on tracks on Lorde’s Melodrama album, Imagine…
Aldous Harding Making a Big Name for Herself
A lot of people are starting to talk about New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding. The 26-year-old talked to the San Francisco Chronicle on a stop in Brooklyn, New York on her current tour of…
Melodrama Debuts Atop Billboard 200 Chart
Lorde has notched her first No 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, with her second full-length album, Melodrama, debuting atop the list, Keith Caulfield reports for Billboard magazine. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the…
San Luis Obispo Symphony Appoints Andrew Sewell
Andrew Sewell brought his baton to the San Luis Obispo Symphony back in 2016 and now the New Zealand-born conductor is staying put in California. The Symphony recently announced the appointment of Sewell as its…
Singer Jon Stevens Hits the London Stage
“Aristocrat of Australian rock, five-date tour of London at the legendary 100 Club in Oxford Street,” Russell Higham reports for TNT Magazine. “The former front man of…
Melodrama Wins High Praise Across the Planet
Lorde’s sophomore studio album Melodrama has been released and critics throughout the world are singing the 20-year-old’s praises. In the New Yorker, reviewer Carrie Battan writes that it is “difficult to say whether Lorde…
How Lorde Became the Life of the Party
Playing to tens of thousands of people at the main stage of Coachella is a disquieting proposition for a self-described introvert, TIME magazine’s Sam Lansky writes. But Lorde is making some of the most…
Lorde’s New Songs Definitely About Personal Life
‘I’m really a shy, library person,” says Lorde, who adds, “I’m an introvert, a writer –just trying to translate what’s inside my chest.” The 20-year-old Auckland-born singer sits down with Vanity Fair’s Lisa Robinson…
Flying Nun’s Look Blue Go Purple Reissue Bewitched
Dunedin band Look Blue Go Purple’s 1985 Bewitched has just been re-released, and US online music magazine Pitchfork deems it one of the “best” recent reissues. “In the 1980s, the women of Look Blue Go…
Aldous Harding Review – A Star In The Making
“New Zealand’s latest export is a compellingly theatrical performer of her extraordinary songs,” writes Kitty Empire in an article for The Guardian. “Aldous Harding fixes a person in the front row of this tiny…
Pop’s Outsider Lorde Covers Rolling Stone
In a cover story for Rolling Stone magazine, Lorde talks about growing up in the spotlight following her hit debut Pure Heroine, and why her new Melodrama, out on 16 June, is the work…
Introducing Rousseau’s Dark Pop Identity
Independently released in April, Wellingtonian Clare Barrett Rousseau’s debut EP hello, i know you’re busy “is the ideal entrance, introducing the many shades of Rousseau’s dark pop identity while leaving us hungry for more,”…
Lorde is ELLE’s Dior Cover Girl
In the news yet again this week, just ahead of the release of her long-awaited second album Melodrama, Auckland-born mega star Lorde, 20, dresses up in a Dior jumpsuit for the cover of ELLE’s…
Aldous Harding’s Songs Won’t Be Pinned Down
Aldous Harding, 26, shies away from explaining the quiet, cryptic, utterly arresting songs on Party, her second album and first American release. Harding, who is from New Zealand, was in New York at the…
Christopher Marshall’s Cosmos on in Florida
New Zealand composer Christopher Marshall’s Cosmos, a 20-minute work highlighting the history of flight, will have its world premiere as part of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra 2017-18 season on 27-28 May in Orlando,…
Robyn Loau Reunites With Her Girlfriends
Nineties Australian girl band Girlfriend, whose frontwoman was New Zealander Robyn Loau (pictured centre top), are reforming to mark the 25th anniversary of their No 1 hit Take it From Me. The band, which was…
Weissenborn Player Thomas Oliver Off on Tour
Wellington-based musician Thomas Oliver, 31, talks to Australian independent online music publication, The AU Review about the inspirations behind his new self-produced album Floating in the Darkness and his upcoming local tour followed by…
Soprano Natasha Wilson Sings With Acrobats
Acclaimed Australian Brandenburg Orchestra has teamed up with Auckland soprano Natasha Wilson and circus company Circa to present Spanish Baroque at the City Recital Hall in Sydney. Wilson, 23, was invited by Brandenburg artistic director…
Fazerdaze Releases Confident Dreamy Debut
Morningside, the “accomplished” debut album of Auckland’s Fazerdaze, aka Amelia Murray, “is like having the door to a house opened for you, casually strolling in and taking your own time to find a comfortable…
Kane Strang’s New Album Out in June
After sharing a string of ace singles over the last few months, New Zealander Kane Strang has announced that his new album, Two Hearts and No Brain will be out…
Fis Teams with Maori Sound Artist Rob Thorne
“Berlin-based producer Fis (aka Olly Peryman) shifts focus back to his home of New Zealand for Clear Stones, a collaborative album with veteran Maori sound artist Rob Thorne due on Subtext,” Miles…
Lorde Makes Sophisticated Return at Coachella
“Lorde used her late-evening (Coachella) slot to showcase material from her forthcoming album, Melodrama. Starting off with a portion of her lead single, Green Light, she performed staring straight down…
Lorde talks Melodrama at New York Diner
Lorde owns a house in Auckland, where she grew up, but for the better part of the last year she has been living at different hotels around New York, trying…
Soulful New Video for Singer Janine
New Zealand-born soul singer Janine, formerly known as Janine and the Mixtape, is back with a “heart-tugging visual for Don’t Love Me,” Adelle Platon reports for Billboard. “As previously heard on the emotional offerings like 2015’s…
Aldous Harding Announces Party and Tour Dates
New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding will release her sophomore album, Party on 19 May. After sharing the striking single Horizon, Harding has also revealed European and US tour dates, beginning with a performance at The…
Kane Strang Going on First European Tour
“New Zealander is currently in the midst of a huge tour of the United States, but that hasn’t stopped him announcing his first-ever European shows,” DIY magazine reports. “ was…
Violinist Alexandra Lomeiko Performs in Worthing
Christchurch-born violinist Alexandra Lomeiko recently performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra. Chichester Observer journalist Phil Hewitt writes: “Lomeiko was born in 1991 into a family of musicians and started playing at the…
Tami Neilson Has Canadian Fans Wanting More
In the opening slot on a recent North American tour with Canadian singer-songwriter Colin James was Tami Neilson, a Mississauga-bred, New Zealand-based dynamo whose 30-minute sets created a buzz with audiences. Neilson and her…
Nadia Reid’s Lovelorn Folk Perfectly Crafted
New Zealand singer Nadia Reid, 25, has “decidedly upped the ante” on her second album Preservation, according to Guardian reviewer Dave Simpson. “ ethereal, pensive vocals are cast against plangent folk-guitar shapes, but there is…
Lorde Joyfully Crashes Into Next Chapter
Lorde’s comeback single Green Light, is an “upbeat announcement of change,” according to the Atlantic, one of many international publications praising the “inventive” pop singer’s new direction. “People have been waiting for Lorde’s future for…
Nadia Reid’s New LP an Ode to Self-Reflection
Nadia Reid’s new video for The Arrow and The Aim, taken from her forthcoming album Preservation, was shot in an abandoned house surrounded by stunning landscapes in Mt Somers, just outside of Christchurch. “I guess…
Erakah’s Story of Musical Success
Born in Fiji, Erakah spent part of her early years in the country before being adopted by a family in New Zealand. Over there she discovered she had a talent for singing resulting in…
Conductor Grant Cooper Brings a Heavy Hitter
Guest conductor New Zealand-born Grant Cooper recently packed his SUV with a homemade, giant hammer and drove from West Virginia to Albuquerque to lead the New Mexico Philharmonic through the hammer blows of fate…
Ladyhawke Truly Compels in Manchester
“Synth-pop legend Ladyhawke delivered a flawless performance at the intimate Manchester Academy 3 venue” playing “a set of old and new tracks from her decade career in the music scene,” Mancunion journalist Lydia Ransome…
Neil Finn’s Sound a Lifelong Process
Neil Finn will headline the second Skyfields outdoor concert at the picturesque Bluff headland in Devonport, Tasmania on 11 March, and will be joined on stage by Crowded House member Nick Seymour. “We’ll be able…
Kane Strang’s New Tunes Very Good Indeed
Newly signed to American label, Dead Oceans, singer-guitarist New Zealander Kane Strang is “amping up and plotting a new record,” according to DIY magazine’s El Hunt. “‘Oh So You’re Off I See’ is one of two…
Parris Goebel Was Born to Dance
Parris Goebel’s father tells the BBC that his daughter, “a blessing”, was dropped off by a space ship. And it’s a good thing it did. The 24-year-old choreographer from Manurewa, South Auckland is changing…
Hucci Puts Life to Trap in New Single
Trap is a genre born and bred in the American South, but it is a sound Britain’s grimiest producers have embraced as their own, including Brighton-based New Zealand-born Ollie O’Neil, aka Hucci. Trap mixes slow,…
Ten Memorable Flying Nun Moments
To mark a new LP from New Zealand’s The Bats, the Guardian takes a look back at ten of the best moments from the label that spawned them. “Founded in 1981 by Christchurch-based Roger Shepherd,…
2017 Will Be the Year of Our Lorde
With Coachella and Governors Ball 2017 festival announcements, it has become clear that New Zealand alt-pop singer Lorde’s comeback is about to happen, according to Billboard. “Most popular artists announce they are returning from an…
Connan Mockasin’s Faking Jazz Together in Spotlight
A Connan Mockasin song features on an Independent list of most-listened-to tracks the UK newspaper’s staff played the most last year on Spotify. “Oddly, my most-listened to track of 2016 wasn’t from this year at all, but…
Aaradhna Singer Putting NZ R&B Scene On Notice
In 2016, Aaradhna Patel put NZ’s R&B scene on notice with her fourth LP, Brown Girl, going to number one and her refusal to accept the award for Best Hip-Hop Artist at this year’s…
Tami Neilson Shows Soul & Sass On ‘Don’t Be Afraid’
New Zealand-based “songstress Tami Neilson delivers a powerful blend of soul and sass on her sophomore LP, a combination that’s compelling enough to convince anyone who was heretofore unawares just how powerful her potential…
Producer Kamandi Releases New Track The Mould
New Zealand-raised producer Kamandi, aka Tyrone Frost, “has been changing the game across the globe”, according to EDM-culture blog Magnetic Magazine, who caught up with the artist to talk about his influences and his…
