Celebrating the release of her debut EP Imaginary Lover this young artists unique blend of alternative, folk, and blues styles is nothing like you've heard before. Performing a range of tracks of her debut EP alongside a bunch of cover songs with an alternative approach your sure to be entertained.
This record is a journey through my over thinking mind who more often than not, finds itself trapped deep in thought overanalysing the beauty and the darkness this life constantly throws at us. It’s a keepsake of emotion that swims in love, suffocates in pain, and teaches us to live again. - Tessa Lyes.
From the small town of Hokitika on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South island, her ten year performing career has boosted her image and propelled her forward to this big release. In 2011 she lead her band “Onyx and the Liars” to victory at the West Coast Smokefree Rockquest Finals, also taking out the Women’s Musicianship Award for two years running.
A guitarist with a classical background she is no stranger to technique and musical complexities and enjoys combining many interesting elements together to create a sound of her own. A sound that can be described in many ways, but still, no one can directly put their finger on it. She’s got the soul of Stevie Nicks, while many compare her the power of Florence and the Machine. But in between all this is an element of folk and pop which reflects that of Angus and Julia Stone. The EP’s got a rather unexplainable Motown feel to it. Something that was initially unintended but I believe that tickling the keys of that beautiful Rhodes may have something to do with it! Either way, it’s a fusion of history and present bringing all these varied styles together and creating something that has rocked her small hometown of Hokitika somewhere further down the coast!
