Sly Stone Has Died At Age 82: R.I.P.
Sly Stone, aka Sylvester Stewart, has died at the age of 82. A true musical trailblazer, Sly & The Family Stone helped change the course of popular music in the late 60s and early 70s.
The Dead Daisies Are Lookin’ For Trouble: 13th Floor MusicTalk Interview
Blues-infused hard rockers, The Dead Daises pay tribute to greats like Robert Johnson and John Lee Hooker with a new collection of old standards called Lookin’ For Trouble that will rock your socks off.
Harper Finn – Love and Loneliness: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day
NYC-based, New Zealand-born artist Harper Finn unveils Love and Loneliness, the evocative third track from his highly anticipated debut album – a body of work shaped by solitude, self-discovery, and the raw atmosphere of his time in New York City.
Phoebe Rings – Aseurai (Carpark Records)
There’s something otherworldly about Phoebe Rings’ debut album: a somewhat mysterious title and a sound as transporting as the band’s name suggests. And maybe it’s just what we need in these times.
Japanese Breakfast – Auckland Town Hall: June 7, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)
Japanese Breakfast made their much-anticipated New Zealand concert debut last night, bringing their Melancholy Tour to a full house at Auckland’s iconic Town Hall.
Lake South – We lived our lives on top of this (Home Alone)
Lake South, occupies a socially conscious corner of the Aotearoa music landscape, crafting heartfelt, homespun songs that blend synth-folk melancholy with working-class idealism and a deep sense of place.
Leisure – Missing You: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day
Auckland’s soul-electronic collective LEISURE share new single Missing You, a track that captures the bittersweet feeling of being close to someone physically, yet feeling emotionally distant. It reflects on the quiet ache that comes when a loved one is going through personal struggles, causing the relationship to shift and feel unfamiliar.
Love Party – WOW! (13th Floor Album Review)
Love Party, are Poneke tāngata Kate Yesberg, Dayle Jellyman and Cory Champion, together, compositely, they have plethora of musical experience, including playing in teenage punk bands, whilst concurrently other acts including; Battle Ska Galactica, Clear Path Ensemble, Fvkvshima, and Floating Head jazz ensemble.
Heavenly Returns To Portland Town: 13th Floor MusicTalk Interview
Heavenly were, and are again, an indiepop band from England who have just released their first new single in 29 years.
Congratulations to 13th Floor Photographer Azrie Azizi!
We here at The 13th Floor are thrilled to learn that Image Auckland has announced the winner of 2025 Music Photography Award – Whakaahua Puoro Toa. First place goes to Azrie Azizi for his photo of Fazerdaze at the Powerstation.
First Reserve – Last One: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day
First Reserve has wasted no time in 2025. The Te-Whanganui-A-Tara based solo recording project of Ryan Connaghan (he/they) has become a staple of the city’s music scene in little over a year. Last One marks a new era for the songwriter, and is the first release from their upcoming, as of yet unannounced debut project.
Mel Parsons – Tuning Fork: June 6, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)
Mel Parsons led a confidently understated band on the Tuning Fork stage, her between song banter in upbeat juxtaposition to the lyrical content’s often somber and melancholy tone.
Hollie Smith – Artworks Theatre, Waiheke Island: June 6, 2025
This year NZ Music Month is leaking into June. At least on Waiheke where Hollie Smith has brought The Bones Tour to the island’s theatre. Sold out and not surprising. Despite only 40 minutes away by ferry, we rarely get the bigger names in Kiwi music here.
Love Party With a Recovering Lawyer: 13th Floor MusicTalk Interview
Love Party is Kate Yesberg and Dayle Jellyman. Married for 10 years, they’ve only just formed a band and released their debut album, Wow!, today.
North Mississippi Allstars – Still Shakin’ (New West) (13th Floor Album Review)
Still Shakin’ is the 12 album released under the North Mississippi Allstars moniker, the band founded by Luther and Cody Dickinson in Hernando, Mississippi, just a stone’s throw across the state line from Memphis, the centre of all things musical.
Courtnay & The Unholy Reverie – 1988: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day
Dynamic Taranaki 5-piece Courtnay & The Unholy Reverie reveal a musically softer side with 1988, a warm-hearted, radio-friendly country-pop gem, and their first release in 2025.
Jimmy Barnes – Defiant (Mushroom Music) (13th Floor Album Review)
There are no two words more emblematic of Australian music than Jimmy Barnes.
Sparks – MAD! (Transgressive) (13th Floor Album Review)
A case can, and should, be made for Sparks, as one of the most underrated, original and consistently entertaining bands…ever. And MAD!, their 27th studio album, makes that case as strongly as anything in their massive catalogue.
Dave Dobbyn & Delaney Davidson – Auckland Town Hall: June 4, 2025
Last night…described as ‘Selected Songs’ amounted to a dream set list, reaching back into a catalogue of Aotearoa’s finest compositions that zero in on Dave Dobbyn’s central themes: love, hope and rootedness in this land.
Pickle Darling – Massive Everything: 13th Floor New Song Of The Day
Ōtautahi’s darling, and San Francisco’s Father/Daughter Records signee Pickle Darling returns with their first release of 2025 – the shimmering, emotionally expansive single Massive Everything.