Jenny Mitchell – Forest House (Civilians) (13th Floor Album Review)
Jenny Mitchell offers us an album of exquisite beauty borne of Aotearoa’s South that gives voice to the wisdom and yearning that can reside between the walls of the lives we build.
Robin Kearns
About Robin Kearns
Posts by Robin Kearns:
Robin Trower – Come And Find Me (Provogue Records)
Sometimes it’s enough to be delighted to discover that little changes in the standard of a musician’s artistry. Such is the new and unexpected new offering from Robin Trower. “Who’d have thought” was my first reaction on hearing of the release. After all, Trower cancelled a tour last year due to serious ill-health. Then another […]
Charlotte Yates – Winter’s Eye (13th Floor Album Review)
The best gifts can arrive in small packages. After seven solo albums, songwriter Charlotte Yates offers us Winter’s Eye, a sparkling EP. Replete with arresting lyrics, these songs take us places and serve as a reminder of the lyrical craft underlying the process of composition.
Wardruna – Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre: January 30, 2025
In the foyer, black clothes prevail. Cloaks and helmets with horns even. These are serious fans. I ask two what genre Wardruna are. They were stuck for a moment. Norse-noir says one. Scandi-pagan says the other.
Moana & The Tribe – Ono (Black Pearl) (13th Floor Album Review)
This is a diverse and utterly elevating collection from Moana & The Tribe. Moana Maniapoto is the kuini/queen of creating joyous sounds in a landscape of struggle for indigenous voice and inclusion. In this collection, ONO offers six richly-layered and sonically engaging collaborations that are a tacit encouragement to learn more about the traditions they […]
Mousey – The Dreams Of Our Mothers’ Mothers! (Winegum) 13th Floor Album Review
The dictionary says someone mousy is ‘shy, timid, quiet’. But, as this Mousey (Sarena Close) has revealed, there’s more to the name. It references the girl in the opening lines of Bowie’s Life on Mars. And here in her third long-player, Dreams of Our Mothers’ Mothers! there are ch-ch-ch- changes for one of the most […]
Jon Toogood – Last of the Lonely Gods (Warner NZ) 13th Floor Album Review
In 2014, Shihad released FVEY, a raging record addressing social justice issues that were deeply etched in its loud tracks. Now, right on a decade later, front man Jon Toogood offers a very different, and solo, song cycle.
The Beths with Great South – Hollywood Avondale: September 20, 2024
Earlier in the day I was asked what I was up to tonight. ‘Reviewing The Beths’. ‘Easy’ I was told ‘Just write ‘The Beths show was glorious, joyous and wonderful’. End of review, enjoy the rest of the show’. Tempting and accurate. But I had a hunch there’d be more to say. There was.
Mel Parsons – Artworks Theatre Waiheke Island: September 14, 2024
Mel Parsons brought her Regional Sabotage tour to Waiheke Island. Fortunately 13th Floor review writer Robin Kearns and photographer Brenna Jo Gotje are island residents and here’s their coverage.
Earth Tongue – Great Haunting (In The Red) 13th Floor Album Review
There is a synergy in Great Haunting’s arrival on a Friday. It may be a day late for the 13th, but a day cloaked in grey skies, and replete with sudden downpours and the threat of thunder. A fitting weatherly backdrop for this brooding, opaque and often clamorous soundscape from Earth Tongue, the two-piece band […]
