Flaxxies - Sunstruck

Auckland's groovy dubby group Flaxxies dropped their 'Sunstruck EP' just in time for spring. Sunstruck features six tracks, although the title track and first song serves more as a brief intro for the second jam Snapped Up (By The Boss). Full of Aotearoa roots energy, Flaxxies explore love and societal themes with a general laid back attitude regardless of the topic. Time To Go for example sounds like a glorious road-trip anthem, full of upbeat groovy pockets and yet it's full of niggly relationship lyrics. Brighter Days offers a more reggae-dub sound and the laid back vibe again disguises some serious themes, before finishing with Who's Been Callin' to question authority. This tightly packed EP was an instant favourite and introduces the listener to Flaxxies who will probably take over this summer.

Clementine Valentine – The Coin That Broke The Fountain Floor

Formerly known as Purple Pilgrims, now going by Clementine Valentine – which also happens to be the respective first names of the Nixon sisters who make up the group. We’re talking here about some ethereal art-pop sounds which will rise your spirit up out of your body and let you look down upon the world from the clouds. Between the angelic blood harmonies of the vocals to the warm tidal swells of the keyboards this is an album of spectral bliss, dark and resplendent, wandering in celestial wisdom. If that all sounds a little too airy-fairy for you then that’s because you haven’t listened to it yet. One of Aotearoa’s finest of 2023 to date. And an extra shout for Flying Nun who continue to boost up these kinds of acts on their iconic local label.

Osees – Intercepted Message

It rips. It shreds. It does all those things that an Osees album is supposed to do. Dwyer and company’s last serving was a hardcore punk influenced set, this one carries some of that abrasiveness but mostly it leans back upon the Can/Krautrock thing they’d previously been advancing. There are strange keyboard sounds. Dwyer gets his goblin howl going. Once again the band’s superpower stems from the two-drummer set up which gives even the slower songs a propulsive energy. Check out the title track for an example of all of those things merging together in glorious fashion around one of their best ever choruses. There are hooks like that spread around (Unusual & Cruel, Goon, Chaos Heart) but there are also tunes like The Fish Needs A Bike which sound more like Captain Beefheart experiments. Oh yeah, this one gets weird. Deliciously so. They also manage to deliver one of their rare slow-jam closers with Always At Night. Osees don’t miss, mate. Never have and they probably never will.

Hemi Hemingway – Strangers Again

Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if Marlon Williams fronted The Veils? That’s sort of what we’ve got here with Hemi Hemingway’s debut effort. Hemingway doesn’t sound like Marlon but he does have a similar feel for the traditional waiata as well as that same ability to morph his voice to the song he’s signing. Hemi croons and swoons his way through heartbreaky tracks that owe as much to doo-wop as they do to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Chris Isaak is another obvious touchstone, as are the more gothic 80s synth-pop acts. And as much as the Twin Peaks comparison feels like a cliche... let’s just say that Hemi and his band would not seem out of place at The Roadhouse bar. There’s an incredible sense of tension and control on this album. Settle into these soft grooves and chill amongst the reverberations.

Blu & Real Bad Man - Bad News

Real Bad Man is back with another fabulous collaborative project, this time teaming up with underground California legend Blu for 'Bad News'. RBM has found a lovely pocket serving up glorious hip-de-hop production and this gives ample space for Blu to fire off bristling bars, full of observations and love for South Central Los Angeles. Each track features some kind of switch up or diversion from RBM and Blu rides these grooves with ease. This is also evident on The Golden Rule where C.L. Smooth rides the beat switch and another underground champion Planet Asia delivers a second stanza for Hebrews. Fall Of Rome features Cashus King, Donel Smokes and Definite but the best tracks have Blu flexing all over RBM beats, delivering a project that is among the best hip hop releases this year.

Mikaela Davis – And Southern Star

Mikaela Davis plays the harp. Not the mouth harp, either, but the big old golden, long-stringed thing that the angels are supposed to spend their spare time plucking away at. But Mikaela Davis and her band Southern Star aren’t trying to make heavenly elevator music. Davis has jammed with Bob Weir and is therefore on that fringe of modern Grateful Dead acolytes and her latest album is her best yet because while it still serves up decent tunes it focuses first and foremost on the summer grooves. These are 70s soft rock influenced sounds with slicing guitar and slick pedal steel. Easy-going vibrations. Davis’ harp sprinkles beauty all over that familiar format though it never dominates at the expense of the rest of the band. This is that blue-sky chill with a slow and steady rhythm, meant for open roads and rolling hills and deep horizons.

Smoke DZA & Flying Lotus - Flying Objects

'Flying Objects' is a fun collaboration between Smoke DZA and Flying Lotus, best deployed for background herbal sessions. This is light in terms of being just five tracks and also feels light to listen to, as Flying Lotus offers wavy production for DZA's typically mellow poetry. Conway The Machine, Black Thought and Estelle make guest appearance with Black Thought's verse on Drug Trade a special nugget to enjoy. Don't ponder too much about this project, just whack it one and spark one up while connecting to Jahtearoa.

Blondshell - Blondshell

About a million indie rock albums get released every year, most of them dealing with personal songs about broken hearts and emotional maturity, and many of them are instantly forgettable. Even some of the good ones don’t linger. So when you stumble upon something like this Blondshell record which rises above the crowd it’s a special thing. Blondshell is the project of Sabrina Teitelbaum, of Los Angeles, who had a brief pop career as BAUM but has now gone all in on grungy electric guitars and cathartic choruses. Thematically there’s nothing new here... it’s just that Blondshell hits the formula so well with really sharp lyrical content and brilliant melodic hooks. The songwriting is the triumphant. Perfect for anyone who dug that boygenius record earlier in the year but wished they’d turn the amps up louder.

Gunn Truscinski Nace – Glass Band

Steve Gunn, John Truscinski, and Bill Nace. Gunn and Nace are guitarists, Gunn with his finger-picked western sky music and Nace with his noisy experimental visions. Truscinski is a drummer of high prestige who happens to have played extensively with each of those guitarists. Gunn and Truscinski have been churning out extended collaborative efforts for years now so they’ve simply added Nace into the bargain and here we go. No vocals. No choruses. Just vast open realms of musical virtuosity. Let the spirit move you.

Zach Bryan – Zach Bryan

This dude is massive all of a sudden in the country realms. That doesn’t necessarily translate to Aotearoa (although the Aussie NRL lads all love them some Luke Combs – who helped Mr Bryan into superstardom by taking him on tour), so it’s not easy to gather exactly how that happened. Bryan is super prolific but his songs don’t hit you like, say, Jason Isbell’s ones do. They’re just good solid country tunes about relatable things. ZB has a super ear for a melody. He certainly has a great voice and his songs are earnest and honest. Plus he seems like a nice bloke, a reluctant celebrity who put out a live album called ‘All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster’. Probably helps with the target audience that he’s an ex-army bloke from Oklahoma too. It’s a weird one though. Listening to his latest record (much shorter than his 34-track breakout opus American Heartbreak) you don’t necessarily catch anything special about it... but then perhaps that relentless 7.5/10 consistency is what’s so special about him after all.

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