Release Roundup: Seth Frightening, Kurawai, Terry Shore, Babe Martin, Keepsakes, Thee Golden Geese + More

One last roundup for 2023 to support the mid-December maniacs. Delve downwards for fresh Aotearoa releases by Kurawai, Terry Shore, Babe Martin, Thee Golden Geese, crossingwater, Keepsakes, Seth Frightening, Nicholas Joseph and the new Works for Loudspeakers collection from Sonorous Circle, and catch you in 2024!

Multiple award winners Troy Kingi and Ria Hall share an important message sung entirely in te reo on their new collaborative waiata with Te Kuru Dewes 'Toitū Te Tiriti', released under the moniker Kurawai. "Calling out the current coalition for choosing to perpetuate the narrative of division and the race-baiting politics that saw them elected, the new waiata by Ria Hall, Troy Kingi and Te Kuru Dewes is a direct response to the Government’s promise to rewrite the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi... the song is also a call to action to all Māori and Tangata Tiriti (non-Māori) to unite in the true spirit of kotahitanga to defend all that Te Tiriti o Waitangi represents".

Underground pop hero of Te Whanganui-a-Tara's music community, Terry Shore gifts listeners the catchiest festive tunes you're likely to hear this year with The Christmas Jingle EP. Still gutted I missed his release show at San Fran with Vera Ellen on Wednesday.

Sunreturn songwriter Babe Martin aka Zoë Larsen-Cumming had a winning year of debut releases, capped off with beautiful nostalgic new visuals for the title track to her Versoix EP, directed by Kelly Gilbride.

Tāmaki Makaurau's Thee Golden Geese have had one heck of a year too, launching their prophetically titled debut album Bird Of The Year 2023 to instant acclaim and chart-hitting success. Playing for free outside the Flying Nun store this Saturday at 2pm with Cowboy Dan, the ever-innovative foursome used the dubious magic of computer generated imagery to make a "monstrous AI creation" for their tune 'Solve A Murder' — featuring Neil Finn?

Driving force behind Pōneke's Mirror Ritual and The Spectre Collective, crossing water is the new exploratory electronic project of Lochie Noble — feel the purring vibrations of tempus sleeps / how do u make it work.

Based in Ōtautahi, globe-trotting electronic producer / DJ Keepsakes (Haven) shared speaker pummelling new five track collection BLUNT CLOUT TRAUMA via Spanish imprint KAOS. "It’s a great feeling to be releasing again on one of the strongest techno imprints from the past several years — there’s always a stack of KAOS weapons in my record bag whenever I’m playing out these days".

Open-eared Aotearoa imprint Sonorous Circle unveiled a trifecta of releases to dive deep into during the forthcoming summer weeks — the auspicious first single in six years from Seth Frightening (with more to come in 2024), the third single from avant-songwriter Nicholas Joseph and the latest edition in their Works for Loudspeakers series — "a platform for emerging and established composers creating electro-acoustic music".