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.
Album Reviews
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, […]
Kesha – . (Period): (Kesha Records) 13th Floor Album Review
Famously versatile singer Kesha is soon to release her newest album, . (Period) – the first under her independently owned Kesha Records since her departure from RCA and Kemosabe Records in 2023. It’s both an exclamation and a reclamation of her art – on her terms.
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.
People of the Sun – People of the Sun (13th Floor Album review)
People of the Sun is the self-titled first offering from accomplished and talented trio, Joseph Anderson, Djordje Nikolic, and Tom Scrase hailing from New Plymouth.
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.
The Cure – Mixes Of A Lost World (Polydor/Fiction)
Last year Robert Smith broke a 16-year silence with a new Cure album, Songs Of Lost World. Now, just a few months later we get the remixes.
Ratso – Fuck Ratso (13th Floor Album Review)
If you’d ever experienced the electrifying phenomenon of Tamaki Makaurau band Ratso live , you would likely agree that their edgy, vaudevillian spectacle, “A Good Night Out” was not only charismatic but also essential to the band’s profound impact.
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.
Haim – I Quit (Polydor) 13th Floor Album Review
I Quit, the fourth album from Los Angeles-based band Haim, is about to land – and while it’s not an album you’ll want to stop listening to, it’s not a particular revolution from a thematic standpoint.