Martin Sagadin Announces 'Martin Iz Zgornje Bele' Debut Album Release Tour

An innovative figure central to Ōtautahi's songwriting community, Martin Sagadin will soon be releasing their debut album Martin Iz Zgornje Bele via US indie heavyweights Ba Da Bing Records and Canterbury's own Melted Ice Cream. Well known as the directorial force behind many of Aotearoa's most visually entrancing videos of the past decade — including a standout collaborative run with Aldous Harding (amongst other notables) — Sagadin's own avant-folk solo works are sung in the Slovenia-born artist's native language. New debut single 'Sto Vrat' is a moving and tantalising glimpse of the full album to come, produced by Brooke Singer (French For Rabbits) and featuring instrumental contributions from fellow luminaries Liz Stokes, Ben Lemi, Xanthe Rook and Charlotte Forrester.

Martin Sagadin has announced a very special run of intimate release events, performing with friends across the motu this summer. We advise pouncing on tickets or there's a good chance you'll miss out — the best way keep up to speed is by subscribing to Sagadin's newsletter right HERE.

Martin Sagadin - Martin Iz Zgornje Bele - Album Release

Friday 5th December - Flying Nun, Christchurch (6pm, free in-store)
Friday 19th December - Pitt Street Church, Auckland w/ Womb (solo), Jazmine Mary (7pm)
Saturday 10th January - Lyttelton Coffee Company, Lyttelton w/ Ben Woods (7pm)
Friday 13th February - Vogelmorn Hall, Wellington w/ Timothy Blackman (6pm)

Auckland, Lyttelton and Wellington tickets on sale HERE via UTR

Press release:

Join us for the release of Martin Sagadin's debut album MARTIN IZ ZGORNJE BELE.

Martin Sagadin’s enigmatic debut album, Martin Iz Zgornje Bele, is sure to be one of the most talked about folk records in recent memory. Well known in Aotearoa as a filmmaker and music video director with a gentle, poetic and surreal visual style, Sagadin’s music becomes an extension of their artistry, evoking vivid musical imagery executed with finesse and grace.

Sagadin was born in Kranj, Slovenia, but has lived in Aotearoa, New Zealand, for the past 19 years. In that time, they developed a reputation as a filmmaker and the go-to music video director for artists like Aldous Harding, Tiny Ruins, Marlon Williams and The Bats. With such worthy contemporaries, it’s all the more notable that Martin Iz Zgornje Bele sounds utterly different from any of those artists’ work.

The choice to sing in their native Slovenian language was an intuitive pathway towards communicating rarefied and borderless emotions. The album paints a collection of delicate moments, sparsely arranged with fan organ, guitar, mandolin, recorders, cello and a small orchestra of instruments. Martin’s voice is frail and with faults, but has power through a rarely-heard sincerity and naïve presentation. Martin Iz Zgornje Bele calls through the years, piecing together fragments of sound into transcendent, glowing swells of emotion.

The album was produced by Brooke Singer (FRENCH FOR RABBITS) and features Ben Lemi (TRINITY ROOTS, BRET MCKENZIE) and Xanthe Rook (RECITALS) on the clarinet, Liz Stokes (THE BETHS) on flugelhorn and Charlotte Forrester (WOMB) on cello, making it a completely unique sounding collection of songs. It was picked up by BaDaBing! Records in USA, while Melted Ice Cream is releasing it in NZ and Australia.