Friday Release Roundup - Leaping Tiger, Vera Ellen, The Beths, Mooncrystal + More

Not at all dissimilar to herding a whole lot of sonic cats into one handy location, it's time again for our Friday Release Roundup. Cast your mind back to this week's news coverage of Carb On Carb, Soft Plastics, Lips, Grecco Romank, Tom Lark, Hannah Everingham, Shepherd's Reign, We Will Ride Fast and Bryony Matthews — then let's explore even more fresh Aotearoa (and related) releases below from Mooncrystal, Leaping Tiger, Vera Ellen, The Beths, Satin Sheets x RINSE, Tom Hardie, Mali Mali and Coast Arcade.

Already hailed by those in the know as "album of the year", The Music Tree is a debut collection "by the enigmatic 6 year old electronic artist" Mooncrystal from Tāmaki Makaurau. Clocking in at less than 3 minutes over seven rapid-fire tracks, is it really that great? We reckon: yes it is!

Winner of the 2022 Tūī award for Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa | Best Electronic Artist, the always innovative Leaping Tiger aka Jacob Park treats his ever-expanding fanbase to third studio album Godspeed! Featuring guest contributions from Church & AP, PollyHill, Disciple Pati, JY Lee and Nganeko, we're looking forward to hearing these tunes lighting up SRN airwaves (and beyond) for the rest of 2023.

Sometimes it seems like everyone's a winner baby — including local music lovers on this jam-packed Friday. Recipient of the Best Alternative Artist Tūī at the 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards, Vera Ellen has unveiled her new album Ideal Home Noise via Flying Nun, plus released earlier this week the third clip in an ambitious trilogy of video works made with Sports Team. You can catch the superlative songwriting talent touring nationwide in April — order the compact disc and / or vinyl LP edition via the Bandcamp link.

Finalists for this year's prestigious Taite Music Prize, Aotearoa's globally beloved power-pop champs The Beths returned with snazzy standalone single 'Watching The Credits', plus a whole dang Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music!

Winner of the award I just invented for chillest / most-zoned local tunes for his 2022 opus St. Francis II (100% Electronica), Aotearoa vaporwave star Satin Sheets contributes his "additional production" skills to Brisbane artist RINSE's celestial new jam 'Does It Feel Like Heaven?' — out now via nifty new NYC imprint music website.

One of Aotearoa's most sonically compelling underground electronic imprints, Buzzy Point reactivated this week with their first official release in a year and a half. Tom Hardie's Outside & Southerly sports two tracks "produced and recorded by Thomas E Richards [aka Mongo Skato] heavily sampling radio stations broadcasting in Te Whanganui-a-Tara with an MPC2000XL."

The songwriting nom de plume of Tamaki Makaurau's Ben Tolich, Mali Mali shared his fifth studio long player via the team at Home Alone Music. Inspired in part by a summer camping trip with his wife, Tolich makes lush sonic connections on Spirit Tide with "the beauty and splendour of Ninety-mile beach, Te Paki stream and Cape Reinga" — you can order the compact disc and / or vinyl LP edition via the Bandcamp link.

Tamaki Makaurau's Coast Arcade ride a wave of pop-punk hooks on new beach boogie banger 'Surf Club' — sounding significantly shinier than how this listener felt waking up bleary-eyed last weekend after a night out in Raglan.