Hun Lynch 'Sycophant' Album Release Show Announced

The debut album from Tāmaki Makaurau songwriter and multi-disciplinary talent Hun (Hannah) Lynch, Sycophant has swiftly become recognised as one of the most significant Aotearoa releases of 2026. A genre-warping, textural and poetic voyage, Sycophant inspired music journalist Martyn Pepperell to reflect, "I think she might be the ultimate Auckland artist." Launched in late April via Noa Records during a notably busy time for both Hun Lynch (who stars in the new sci-fi comedy-horror feature film Mum I’m Alien Pregnant) and the boundary-redefining Aotearoa / Te Moana Nui a Kiwa imprint, it is now time to celebrate the achievement of Sycophant.  

Top 20 finalist for the 2026 APRA Silver Scroll Award, Hun Lynch will perform in the majestic setting of Kāhui St David's on Khyber Pass Road on 29th August, with stellar bandmates Navakatoa Tekela-Pule, Tiare Kelly, De Stevens and Hamish Morgan, preceded by a theatrical solo clown performance from "Goblin / Director" Sean Dioneda Rivera. Also featuring Paddy Hill on live efx with full scale lighting, this crucial late winter event is brought to you by Noa Records and Strange News. We suggest you snag tickets immediately...

Hun Lynch 'Sycophant' Album Release Show
with special guest Sean Dioneda Rivera
Saturday 29th August - Kāhui St David's, Auckland
Tickets on sale HERE via UTR

Press release:

If the last twelve months have belonged to any one artist in Aotearoa, it must surely be Hun (Hannah) Lynch. Hun Lynch (Pakeha, Fiji, Samoa) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans theatre, film, and writing. Her compositions have been featured across stage and screen, as well being a regular fixture on the likes of Radio New Zealand, 95bFM, and NTS.

Her feature film acting debut 'Mum I’m Alien Pregnant' recently premiered at Sundance Film Festival to elated applause, and she was introduced to the world at large as a musician to be taken seriously via Neil Finn’s Infinity Sessions streaming show series. Finally, in April of this year, Hun Lynch’s first full-length sonic tapestry 'Sycophant', with a very special one-off album celebration just announced at Tāmaki Makaurau’s new musical haven Kāhui St David’s.

The album arrived through Noa Records, a record label and creative whānau that houses the likes of Leao, Sanguine, and WAIWHAI. A self-recorded and produced kind of “aural cinema”, Sycophant was mixed by mixed by acclaimed engineer Paddy Hill at Roundhead Studios. Hun Lynch wades reflective tides on Sycophant, distilling her expansive creative vocabulary into a sound that is as theatrical and poetic as it is intimate.

Sycophant guides us through lucid cinematic scenes saturated in hypnotic choral vocals, driving guitar loops and synth-work akin to musique concrète. At the same time, the album is an expression of love and devotion to Hannah’s family and friends and everyone she knows and doesn’t know.

Hun’s songs are expansive and deeply personal, with tracks that fluctuate between moments of spiritual grandeur and existential fragility. Through live performance Hun attempts to touch the void of an untouchable feeling, often meditating on the ephemeral muddiness of connecting to wairua in the wake of religion.

Joining Hun Lynch on the gloriously restored Kāhui St David's stage will be an all-star band; Navakatoa Tekela-Pule (LEAO) is on guitars, Tiare Kelly (Erny Belle) on synths and SP404, De Stevens (Marlin's Dreaming) joins on bass, and Hamish Morgan (Marlin's Dreaming) behind the drums and electronics, with Roundhead’s chief in command Paddy Hill on live mix FX.

Further evidence that this will be no ordinary gig is the hand-picked opening act for the evening; a theatrical solo clown performance from Sean Dioneda Rivera.

An award winning director, playwright, and actor working across theatre and film, Sean is known for his innovative, evocative work, and was most recently seen performing at Q Theatre alongside Tom Sainsbury and Lara Fischel-Chisholm as part of the Dynamotion troupe.

'Our Own Private Rapture' is Sean’s search for the divine ecstatic (the dynamic sublime) amidst the mundanity of daily life. A priest becomes the clown, rock star, bouffon, storyteller, fool, and counsellor in these 7-15 minutes sent from heaven.