Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 6th July

Friday 6th July, 2018 5:15PM

News has been flooding in from all ends of the musical spectrum this week. The debut New Zealand iteration of the Listen In festival was announced to take place at Auckland's Spark Arena in September, boasting a lineup of superstar internationals A$AP Rocky, Skrillex, Skepta and Lil Skies, and veteran Australian rockers The Church are returning to our shores in December to play their classic 1988 album Starfish in its entirety also at Spark Arena - you can read our conversation with The Church's Steve Kilbey about the upcoming show and lots more here.

It was a fab week for high profile tour announcements, Martin Phillipps' iconic Dunedin group The Chills are heading out for an extensive national album release tour in September and October and shared two fresh numbers from their upcoming record Snow Bound, the combined local hip hop prowess of IllBaz, Melodownz and Raiza Biza are taking their collaborative project High Beams material on the road for a three date tour, and Manchester alt-rockers James will are returning to New Zealand for shows in Auckland and Christchurch this November. Auckland via Otago guitar poppers Ha The Unclear announced a national tour in a support of their latest record Invisible Lines and shared a meticulously constructed new video, while Dunedin-based pals Soaked Oats got in on the the action via announcing a three date jaunt in July. The tenth iteration of the Hamilton Circle Jerk announced a formidable line up of local artists covering local songs, the dual metal Australian assault of Reaper and Contaminated will play a joint Wellington show in October, and skull-crushing Sydney D-beat artists Dark Horse are heading our way for an imminent mini-tour.

We were thrilled to premiere the fuzzed-out latest collection from Christchurch guitar-wranglers Wurld Series, who are packing their scraggly tunes in their napsack for a national tour this month, and Wellington psych artists New Age Leper dropped their blazed track ‘The Tragic Tale Of A Self-Obsessed Man’. We also had the opportunity to chat with prodigious Wellington singer / producer Lontalius, who returned after two years of studio wizardry with two heartfelt new singles.

More local highlights included Lyttelton songwriter Marlon Williams shared a beautiful rendition of the title track to his album Make Way For Love recorded with Christchurch Māori and Pacifica youth choir the Pou Tiriao Singers, Tami Neilson lifted the lid on a skilfully choreographed video for her track ‘Devil In A Dress’, and local super-duo Fabulous / Arabia returned with their first release in seven years 'Henry'. Auckland synth maestro A. C. Freazy shared a stylish clip for his vibing single ‘Only One’, capital city post-metalers Spook The Horses dropped an impressionistic clip for their powerful tune ‘Herald’, and jangle-synth artists Polyester released their much-anticipated self-titled debut album, which ace music writer Steve Kaye explored in depth here.

Our Caught Live clip for the week features Nashville grunge guitar-pop unit Bully, who are wending their way to our shores for one kick-ass show at Auckland's Whammy Bar in mid-July. Here's recent live footage of the group rattling off their song 'Running' from their latest album Losing (Sub Pop Records), in the plush studios of Seattle radio station KEXP...