Release Roundup: Pickle Darling, Phoebe Rings, Lake South, Swallow The Rat, Instant Fantasy, Sophie Burbery + More

Often imitated, never beaten, it's the UTR Release Roundup, appearing today in a rare and collectible Monday edition due to a classic late week NZ Music Month pileup / meltdown. We're here to help you navigate through May's outpouring of local tunes, revisit our coverage of Bub, Greta O'Leary and Jeiel, then tuck into more new / recent highlights from Phoebe Rings, Pickle Darling, Lake South, Swallow The Rat, Instant Fantasy, Sophie Burbery, Chaos In The CBD, Zireael, Dave Weir, and the latest In The Pits episode covering Ōhinehou Lyttelton's impeccably curated Port Noise festival.

Scroll down and check out the UTR Roundup Playlist, a rolling weekly playlist keeping you in the loop with every new release we've featured on the site over the past month!

Are you an Aotearoa artist / imprint releasing something new soon? Let us know! Send your info including links to editor@undertheradar.co.nz.

An empathetic ode to those trailblazing bedrocks of our music community, heroically doing their own thing even when the showbiz pendulum isn't necessarily swinging their way, Phoebe Rings' 'Fading Star' is a graceful mutant-disco groover from their forthcoming debut album Aseurai — launched with an exceptionally stylie video directed by Nahyeon Lee. "Time to shine / Put on the show".

Not strictly new tunes from Ōtautahi "bedroom-pop" wiz Pickle Darling, fans around the globe are in fact treated to Pickle Darling: The Game — "play as legendary NZ rockstar PICKLE DARLING as you navigate through a very normal ALBUM RELEASE day!!" — which you can play for free immediately right HERE. Programming, story, music (8-bit versions of PD classics) by Pickle Darling, and Gameboy-esque art by Christiane Shortal. "This game is a little peek behind the curtain of what goes into (and what can hinder) a Pickle Darling album release".

Lake South shared a montaged visual travelogue (or perhaps scrapbook) for his soaring new single 'Can we hold this ground'. Out in full on 6th June, you can catch the Pōneke electronic songwriter touring his upcoming album We lived our lives on top of this nationwide with band this coming winter (tickets for most shows via UTR). "There have been two times in my life where I've felt that I was at the end of things. I was in a damp shack, 20 metres from the waves and I worked hard. I fought so damn hard for this song. I dived head first into the breakers and I didn't come up for air until the storm passed".

Heading abroad for a massive European excursion in September and touring their forthcoming Unpopular EP around Aotearoa from 23rd May onwards, Tāmaki Makaurau post-punks Swallow the Rat unfurls amp-ripping second tune from said collection 'MMA Math'. Look forward to a remix by no less than A Place To Bury Strangers later this month.

Returning with a vengeance only a few weeks back with the 10th anniversary reissue of her The Wet EP via Sunreturn, Ōtautahi electronic artist Instant Fantasy now unleashes an emotionally liberating, brand new dream-pop ballad. "I wanted to honour the Instant Fantasy of the past, but show development in ideas and sounds, It feels very freeing... I had to give myself a pep talk. I was looking at a news article about a NZ musician who is doing very well, but is having to work hard to make a career out of music. It started to make me feel bitter about the whole system, where it's so hard to make it as an artist without compromising. I had to give myself a kick up the ass and remember to not get bitter about it all".

Tāmaki Makaurau synthesist Sophie Burbery follows 2024's exceptional Kōwhai with five new compositions to melt inside of — exploring the potentiality of a minimal palette and contributing vocals to pulsing closer 'Astrological Chart'. "Antithesynth is a study in constraint, process, and sonic materiality. Each composition is created using only a single synthesizer... By prioritising sound over form, this project reimagines composition as an emergent dialogue — where music is not imposed, but uncovered".

A decade and a half in the making, A Deeper Life is the debut album from London-based Aotearoa electronic dance duo Chaos In The CBD aka brothers of Louis and Ben Helliker-Hales — featuring a stellar cast of contributors including Stephanie Cooke, Nathan Haines, Isaac Aesili, MC Novelist, and more, self-released via their own imprint In Dust We Trust. "This is a love letter to home and the feeling of being within nature. It’s also an ode to a slower pace of life".

Aotearoa-based dungeon synth artist Zireael makes a majestic return with new long player Upon Her Blade... via Arcane Chapel, following captivating side-quests in sound including Secret Sorcery and Feijoa Tree. "Join Ciri as she embarks on her journey to fulfil an ancient prophecy and to defeat The Wild Hunt once and for all".

Tāmaki Makaurau psych-rocker Dave Weir anticipates this week's chilly turn with seasonal ditty 'Almost June Time' — a Dylan-esque lead cut from his forthcoming new record Copycat Killers.

If you know anybody who's been there, they've probably been going on all about it (for example: myself). Brought to you by Sports Team, hosted by Rachel Ashby, produced by Zoë Larsen Cumming, and filmed by Finn Johansson & Callum Devlin, the new episode of In The Pits sits down and strolls around Ōhinehou Lyttelton with Port Noise festival curators / organisers Ben Woods and Rose Smyth.