Amamelia Shares New Album 'Bananamelia!'

Finalist in the 2022 SRN Awards for Te Tohu Kaipuoro Toa (Favourite Solo Act) and Te Tōtahi Toa (Favourite Single), Amamelia's hungrily anticipated second album Bananamelia! is now out in the world via the gang at Sunreturn. The project of Tāmaki Makaurau producer Amelia Berry (Van Staden & Böhm, Fimo, The Forbin Project), Amamelia's new eight track collection leads listeners on a sonic joyride through realms of breakbeat-driven electronica, swoony trip hop exotica, YMO-esque synth-pop, dreamily emotive balladry and much more, joined on a few tunes by vocalists Madison van Staden (VSB) and Hannah Renwick.

A fruitful, vividly detailed collection that comfortably sits amongst Aotearoa's best releases of this year, Bananamelia! draws upon pre-millennial futurism (the artist has cited '90s works by Cornelius and Soichi Terada amongst the record's wide range of inspirations) to paint refreshingly new, sometimes almost storybook-like images in sound using a strictly limited palette — as explained by Amamelia below. Read the Trash Recital star's own words on the album, smash that play button and watch director Annabel Kean's beautiful stop-motion animated clip for 'C'est Chic', made with support from NZ On Air...

"After my friend Reuben [Winter] died in 2020, I found it really hard to keep making music... Bananamelia! has been my way back in, just trying to go back and recapture what made me want to start making electronic music in the first place, way back in 2015 when Reuben taught me the ropes of Ableton and showed me how to cut breaks. A lot of the record reflects the music I was listening to back then, heaps of Shibuya-Kei, a bit of Ninja Tune, a bunch of Margo Guryan type 60s music, and loads of YMO.

... One big thing for Bananamelia! was that I wanted to limit the sound palette. Partly because I thought it would force me to be clever with the writing, rather than just the design, and also to tie the whole thing together, making it feel more cohesive. At the core of the album is this really simple combo of piano, strings, sub bass, and lots of Think Breaks. I'm a bit of a natural contrarian so I also just wanted to get as far away from the kinds of sounds I was hearing in other people's music, no wavetable synths, no big stabs, I mean...the record barely has any kick drums in it! Was this a good idea? Probably not! But I love how much it makes it its own weird little island.

I really poured my heart out for this one - so I hope that people feel comforted by it, feel happy listening to it."

'Bananamelia!' is out today via Sunreturn — limited vinyl LP orders available HERE.