Release Roundup: Princess Chelsea, Yumi Zouma, Takatapunani ft. Coco Solid, Psycho Gab, Cuticles, Sidewinder, Planet Hunter, Club Ruby + More

We're still buzzing from the punk rock 'n' roll overload of Iggy Pop and Joan Jett at Spark Arena last night. It's been a short but packed week — peruse below new / recent Aotearoa release highlights from Princess Chelsea, Yumi Zouma, Takatapunani featuring Coco Solid, Psycho Gab, Cuticles, Sidewinder, Planet Hunter, Club Ruby, Casual Healing, and Tali featuring Nathan Haines.

Tāmaki Makaurau's rock royal Princess Chelsea unveiled the first video release from a forthcoming new LP via Lil’ Chief Records, filmed and recorded during a one-day live session at Abbey Road’s iconic Studio Two in London, while on tour with bandmates The Dream Warriors. Sporting animated lettering by Simon Ward and Ashley Brown, the balloon festooned 'Time (Live At Studio Two)' not only captures the Taite Music Prize winning artist and band's live majesty, it's also a crucial document of her group's hairstyles circa late '22. Co-directed by Marc Swadel and Jonathan Bree, look out for the one-hour special's launch on 27th February.

Yumi Zouma completed the journey to their fifth studio album No Love Lost To Kindness, ushering in a new era of grungy, even industrial textures and new wave oomph from the Aotearoa dream-pop stars — suiting their melodic gifts very well. "For us, the album is one where we made a deliberate effort to shed the soft-focus production of old YZ in favour of a heavier and more emotionally exposed feel. Lyrically and sonically, this record embraces big hooks and unfiltered personal sentiment much more than our previous work. The themes explore confrontation, diagnosis, disillusionment, risk, and honesty — trading ambiguity for clarity, and polish for power. This album is us becoming a rock band and leaving dream pop behind."

Rapidly ascendant Onehunga‐based rapper / performer Takatapunani teams up with straight up legends Coco Solid on the mic and Big Fat Raro on production duties for 'FILTHY BASS' — her sharp, sassy and acid-fried second single via Kuini Quintrol Records. "The track is a Takata-style soundtrack for the end of summer and the city’s techno club rats. Built on filthy low‐end and body‐moving production, FILTHY BASS is a club weapon made for late nights, sticky dancefloors, and girls with nasty attitudes. Unapologetic and communal, this track is born from family (both Ngāpuhi rappers are related), a love for Tamaki’s underground music scene and a tribute to filthy bass."

Fronted by Rosetta Stone of 95bFM Breakfast fame, Tāmaki Makaurau neo-soul-jazz collective Psycho Gab reintroduce themselves with their first new single in two years 'Compass'. Meditating on the fluidity of identity / relationships, the luminous tune's accompanying video feels like a lost family photo album come to life — directed and filmed by Gab Gillespie. Stone unpacked 'Compass': "There’s a lot bubbling away in there. Connecting with self, yet nurturing one another; balancing self-love with community; turning inward without shutting others out; reckoning with femininity and sensuality in ways that feel authentic and safe and navigating romantic relationships without stifling personal growth."

Incontestably Ōamaru's finest art-frazzled post / proto-punks, Cuticles elevate our Friday with new anthem 'Ogled Moat'. "Castle or a builded home / Leafing through my book of groans / Mouth talking is done by rote / Will never cross the ogled moat".

Just announced to be touring with Norwegian tundra rockers Slomosa this May (get Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Whanganui-a-Tara tickets HERE), the capital's Sidewinder prep our ears for their forthcoming third album Dominion with mega-heavy psych-blues scorcher 'Feed the Beast'.

Speaking of shredders from the capital, Planet Hunter's brand new album Soothsayer is a loving tribute to Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington in all its gnarly aspects, recorded with the help of "one too many beers" and designed to be cranked as loud as possible. Make a beeline to their release rager at Valhalla on 27th February, get tickets HERE. "A distillation of life in Aotearoa’s capital – its clammy corners, strange beauty, chaos, and relentless pulse."

Tāmaki Makaurau's Club Ruby are firing on all cylinders at the start of 2026, following the emotive pop double-punch of new single / video 'What My Bones Know' with their new Don’t Gaslight Me! EP — "a coming-of-age journey featuring raw guitars and grit, that mirrors the seven stages of grief." Also featuring pop-punk ripper 'Heartbreak Overtime', you can catch Club Ruby celebrating their new EP next Thursday evening at Auckland Live Summer in the Square's all-star, all-ages and entirely free Sunset Sounds event.

Casual Healing aka Nikau Te Huki (Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairarapa) shares a valuable, hard-earned lesson with 'Tell The Truth'. Recorded with eleven-piece band, Casual Healing's soulful new reggae ballad is the second single from his forthcoming ONE (earth) EP — concluding in March an ambitious four-part series of EPs inspired by the four elements. "I lied to my insurance company and it backfired, I decided that day that the truth is the way. The world is full of illusion, smoke and mirrors — so let the truth of the kick and snare shatter the mirror and defuse the smoke."

Jazz heavyweight Nathan Haines contributes soulful saxophone to Tali's new single 'I Feel Too Much’, a classy and sleek third cut from the Aotearoa drum n bass icon's forthcoming new album EMPRESS ERA. "How could a world filled with happiness and joy, also be so full of sadness and despair? I often wished (and still do wish, sometimes) that I could run away from my feelings, block them out - so as to escape the weight of what I feel."