Release Roundup & Playlist: Bret McKenzie, Nathan Haines, Mild Orange, Void Waves, Late To Chelsea, Sogg + More

Revisit this week's coverage of Geneva AM, Crystal Chen, Sivle Talk and Harper Finn, read our interview with Fazerdaze, then explore new / recent Aotearoa highlights from Bret McKenzie, Nathan Haines, Mild Orange, Void Waves, Late To Chelsea, Sogg, Linen, IVY, Michaela Tempers, and Lil' Chief Records concert film Jonathan Bree - Live In Mexico City.

Scroll down and scope 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! Only including tracks available on streaming services of course. Author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist (One Signal Publishers), music journalist Liz Pelly will unpack the politics of contemporary streaming in conversation with Martyn Pepperell at Tāmaki Makaurau's Whammy Bar on 26th August, get tickets HERE.

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

Grammy and Academy Award-winning songwriter, composer and yes, one half of globally beloved kiwi musical comedy super-duo Flight of the Conchords, Bret McKenzie's new second solo album Freak Out City via Sub Pop Records makes a rock solid argument that he's this generation's Randy Newman (with a dash of Harry Nilsson?).

Aotearoa's figurehead of future-gazing jazz grooves, Nathan Haines shared an edit of ‘Love You More’ — "created in memory of his late friend and collaborator Phil Asher" — a soulful standout from his 2024 album NOTES. The new version is a taster of the upcoming deluxe release of NOTES, crammed full of "instrumentals, remixes, edits, and live performances from his sold-out Powerstation show."

Now based in the northern hemisphere, Aotearoa superstar dream-rockers Mild Orange unveiled their fourth studio long player The//Glow and will soon be extensively touring around the UK and EU. "This album was three years in the making for us. Recorded while moving hemispheres, touring the world a couple times and focusing on the good buzz in between. It somehow took the four of us moving across the world together in order to live in the same city. We’re an even tighter family unit now because of it. We found our glow-state while making music and being with our mates. And then some songs were written while longing to re-enter that ideal groove again. It comes and goes, but sure enough you’ll be there again."

Emerging from a Tāmaki Makaurau basement studio lair at the start of 2025 and maintaining a champion run of synth-punk-goth releases is Void Waves, whose ace new single 'Outsider' only adds to the enigma.

Including amongst their ranks none other than 95bFM Top Ten hosts Big J and Smashton, Tāmaki Makaurau punkers Late To Chelsea bring the ruckus while spinning a relatable tale of low alcohol tolerance with their new anthem 'Two Beers'. Witness the carnage of director Dave Hulbert's accompanying clip.

Repping the fine Ōtepoti tradition of grunty sonic scuzz are Sogg, ripping through seven scorching tracks in under 20 minutes on their debut album Kill Yr Oppressor — we have been informed they rule live too.

Pōneke power trio Linen casually dropped their third new single in seven years, snarling heavy psych throw down 'G.I.R.L.Y.'

Travelling up north to Tāmaki Makaurau for the Going Global Festival later this month (grab tickets HERE), IVY's new single 'Loon' blends shoegaze, fuzz-grunge oomph and a dollop of The Bends-era Radiohead melodrama. The Ōtepoti five-piece's debut album HUSH will be out in full on 12th September.

Te Whanganui-a-Tara songwriter Michaela Tempers sings of the incredible difficulties involved in rejecting a religious upbringing on her new folk ballad 'Saintly', plus medieval-themed visualiser. Look out out for Tempers' debut Good Woman EP out soon via Home Alone Records. "I was raised in an orthodox religion and this song was written about the very painful, very messy reality of breaking up with your faith."

Aotearoa's dark prince of masked sophisti-pop shows the world how it is done in Jonathan Bree - Live In Mexico City, "A full live performance filmed on vintage cameras and the phones of audience members. One night captured during the Pre‑Code Hollywood tour of 2023." Take in the majesty now via Lil' Chief Records.