Freya – Of Water (13th Floor Album Review)
Freya (Alice Freya Delargey Jones), an Auckland singer-songwriter, delivers an assured debut album with Of Water, a seven-track collection of sparse, slow-burning folktronica.
John Bradbury
About John Bradbury
Posts by John Bradbury:
The Reds, Pinks and Purples – The Past Is a Garden I Never Fed (Fire)
There’s a special kind of romance in Glenn Donaldson’s work that explores the understated ache that sits between moments. This might be in the quiet indignities of creative life, the drift of friendships, or the daily performance of holding yourself together. Under his long-running project The Reds, Pinks and Purples, Donaldson has, over the last half-decade, […]
Lorde – Virgin (Universal) (13th Floor Album Review)
Lorde’s fourth album, Virgin, marks a daring and deeply personal evolution that both builds on and breaks away from her earlier work. On her last album, Solar Power, Lorde drifted into moments of detachment and sun-bleached aloofness. Virgin returns to the visceral.
Ringlets – The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies) (Flying Nun/Leather Jacket)
Ringlets return with boldness, bite, and theatrical flair on their second album, The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time for Walkies), a record that channels the angular rhythms and nervy energy of post-punk into something emotionally frayed, rebellious, but with a social conscience.
Durand Jones & The Indications – Flowers (Dead Oceans)
Durand Jones & The Indications distil soul traditions into a sound that is timeless, tender, and deeply felt. On Flowers, their most emotionally open work yet, the DIY spirit of their self-titled debut, the lush protest-soul of American Love Call, and the satin sheen of Private Space have evolved into a gentle and assured power.
Lou’ana – Disco Witch (So Below) 13th Floor Album Review
There is magic in the air and on the floor. With her second album, Disco Witch, Lou’ana takes listeners on a soulful, sparkly journey through inner worlds and outer rhythms. Divided into two parts, SO BELOW and AS ABOVE, the album is a cosmic invitation to move, reflect, and revel.
James McMurtry – The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy (New West)
For over 35 years, 63 year old James McMurtry has been one of America’s most literate and quietly powerful songwriters. The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy, his eleventh studio album, and his first in four years, is further proof of his enduring craft.
Kate Vargas – Golden Hour in the House of Lugosi (Mother West)
There’s always been a streak of theatrical grit in Kate Vargas’s music, emphasised by a taste for the surreal, the Southern Gothic, the seen-it-all-before drawl. Across the eleven restless tracks on Golden Hour in the House of Lugosi, she blends jazz touched textures, rock and roll swagger, and off kilter ballads. Where her last album […]
Gasoline Lollipops – Kill the Architect (ALP Recordings)
Gasoline Lollipops took their name from a moment of surreal inspiration during a teenage psychedelic experience that shaped and defined their creative spirit. Sweet and volatile, strange yet grounded, the phrase captures the musical and emotional dualities that have defined this Colorado-based group for over a decade.
Jazmine Mary – I Want To Rock And Roll (Flying Nun)
The first time I saw Jazmine Mary live was at Auckland’s Ministry of Folk, in February 2021. They shared the stage with BEING., and together they performed a set that included a haunting version of Jolene. Later that evening, phones buzzed with the news that New Zealand was heading back into Alert Level 3. Another lockdown. […]