Release Radar: Jonathan Bree, AW, Harry W, Two Dollar Trio, Crossingwater, Kanikani Therapy, Christoph El Truento + More

[gasps] "Two UTR Release Radars in one week?!" Savour this unlikely, possibly never to be repeated moment and explore new / recent Aotearoa release highlights from Jonathan Bree, AW, Harry W, Two Dollar Trio, crossingwater, the Kanikani Therapy compilation, Christoph El Truento, Lady Shaka, Sandra Bell, Haast Hunter, and the pink opaque.

Leaving the bubblegum twee of his Brunettes era in the rear view, Jonathan Bree's new double album Don’t Call It Love (Lil’ Chief Records) is a world class statement of dark arthouse-pop and smouldering, sickos-friendly nite-grooves. The gatefold cover design sets a provocative scene for "an erotic concept driven work exploring sexuality and featuring collaborations with women across music, film, photography, and dance" — a Lynchian palette adjacent to Italians Do It Better, Bowie, Portishead and perhaps Serge Gainsbourg — featuring fellow traveller Princess Chelsea on multiple tunes, plus Babi, Rachel Clarke, and Adah Dylan on the title track. The Aotearoa songwriter / producer / director shared: "When mentioning it to my mother, I suggested she might want to give this one a miss."

Andrew Wilson of 21st century Aotearoa noiseniks Die! Die! Die! maintains the streamlined momentum of his post-punk project AW with 'RHUBARB', the first single since his late '25 standout solo debut THE NERVE. Drums by Stefan Neville, layered projected visuals by Ducklingmonster, and artwork by Tina Pihema (Coolies) complete an impeccably balanced, bite-sized release.

Playing a by all-accounts ripper debut Tāmaki Makaurau set at Whammy Bar last week (confirmed to me via social media vids), Aotearoa egg-punk ambassador Harry W introduces himself and his band The Homies (again!) with their ultra-catchy 'Theme Song'. Fun music lives right here, keep it coming Harry W.

Their songwriting pathways first colliding in 2024, Two Dollar Trio are Adam Hattaway, Nick Armstrong (Sin City, The Cavemen) and Dillon Feeney, setting us up for their debut album The Interesting Sounds Of The Two Dollar Trio with the emotionally frazzled, roots rock 'n' soul of single number two 'Murder Me Again'.

Recent special guest opener for John Maus and Vera Ellen (with whom they recently toured the EU as bandmate), Te Whanganui-a-Tara sonic voyager crossingwater's All Things Thus Far is a highly listenable and covetable new compilation, "of music recorded between 2022 & 2025 - compiled onto C-60 cassette tape. released & unreleased. $20 each, msg me if you’d like one. Also available on Bandcamp - lick n’ buy/owe." The two track digital edition mimics the cassette's side A / side B continuous play formatting, ideal for full mind / body soundscape immersion.

I arrived back in Tāmaki Makaurau after an extended weekend away in Te Whanganui-a-Tara to find the beautifully packaged Kanikani Therapy double CD sitting on my doorstep (dutifully preordered via Bandcamp) — the debut compilation from the capital's Dance Therapy Records. Spotlighting 17 local electronic producers across "dub tech, prog, trance, house, techno, acid, ambient hiko, bass and jungle", music journalist Martyn Pepperell did the invaluable mahi of covering Kanikani Therapy in-depth for Mixmag ANZ HERE. "ALL PROFITS WILL BE DONATED TO THE CHARITIES 'TREES THAT COUNT' AND 'FOREST & BIRD' (the only costs being Bandcamp fees and CD manufacturing), to support the conservation of our te taiao that weathers the festivals, doofs and partys we love and that this music is built for."

Christoph El Truento has a new 7" single out now (sold out over on Bandcamp, good luck finding a copy) sporting seriously sizzling tracks 'ALL EVIL SHALL PERISH!' and 'My People... Hold On'. A dubwise appetiser for the master craftsman's upcoming album MUSICAL POWER - Rub-A-Dub Special, featuring a murderers' row of contributors and out in full 19th October.

UK-based Afro-Pasifika club figurehead Lady Shaka shared bumping new electro anthem 'Sweat', a transglobal collaboration with Gunai/Kurnai and Yorta Yorta producer DJ PGZ, UK producer Karma Kid, Italian-Australian rapper DoloRRes, and Brazilian rapper Zaila. "This record is a reminder; you don’t need English to make a banger or to stick to one kind of sound. It’s proof that unexpected languages like Portuguese, Italian and Te Reo Māori can collide and create something beautiful."

Xpressway pioneer Sandra Bell reemerges with the five track The Court Of Love EP, poetically pondering "inadequacies of the justice system... the displacement of Bell's Scottish ancestors in the Highland Clearances to uninhabitable cliff villages, an artist's studio post their death, and the lives of the Romani in Bucharest" — kicking up a joyous racket with contributors including Dianne Civil (Vibraslaps), Bell's son Florian (Prosa), and Jeff Henderson.

Recent guest supports for Aotearoa alt-metal star Vana, Kirikiriroa heavy-hitters Haast Hunter have unleashed their debut album PLASTIQUE — an epic-scale, sonically vivid ten song cycle set within the metalcore collective's "dystopian ‘Post System’ universe". They shared: "A record built from everything we had to bleed, break and release. No system. No rules. No looking back."

Playing at Dankfest 2026 in Ōtepoti this weekend (get tickets HERE), the fabulously named the pink opaque grind skulls to dust (in a good way) with the MBV heavy squall and loud /quiet hook mania of their debut release glow/sparkle.