New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: December 15, 2023

New Music Friday finds Kiko opening portals and Adam Hattaway and the Haunters anthologizing smash hits. Check out all five of the 13th Floor’s top new releases!

The 13th Floor’s Marty Duda picks these five new releases for your consideration:

1. Kiko – Waharoa

Kiko releases their sophomore EP Waharoa, a primarily Te Reo EP with ambitious arrangements that provide metal-esque gothic transitions and arresting rhythms. A collection of songs that touches on themes of identity, self empowerment exploration of the self, posing questions like who am I? Where am I going?. From exploring the depths of your shadows to standing firm in life’s storms, to being your own unique self and cutting your own path through the world, Waharoa represents a journey –  tomokia te waharoa (enter the portal). Check out our Album Review here.

Grab tickets for their launch party in Auckland at Gelatos on K Rd this evening (Friday 15th December)

2. Adam Hattaway and the Haunters – Anthology 2018-2023

Handpicked by Adam Hattaway and Elmore Jones, this is the greatest of all their groundbreaking smash hits. An anthology that brings everything together and makes sense of a band’s history as they move out of the first phase of their existence. Like any good compilation, this package includes never before heard recordings – alternative versions of some earlier material, outtakes that deserved to be included, and two duets featuring Barry Saunders and Jon Toogood. Check out our video session with Adam here.

3. Eels – Eels So Good : Essential EELS, Vol.2 (2007 – 2020) (E Works/[PIAS])

Eels new anthology album spanning over 15 years, seven studio albums and featuring some of EELS best loved songs, the album includes previously unreleased tracks including “Christmas, Why You Gotta Do Me Like This” – an alternative yuletide ballad with a traditionally morose, EELS twist, the song is a tale of unrequited love at Christmas time. Principal singer-songwriter E / Mark Oliver Everett says, “I mean, seriously. Haven’t I always been good to you, Christmas? Enough with the coal in my stocking. For fuck’s sake.”

4. Big Wreck – Pages EP (Sonic Unyon)

Pages EP is the first of a series of EPs which will contain the eighteen songs recorded in sessions at Noble Street Studios in Toronto. “These days, with attention spans where they are and demands on people’s time being what they are, I want to believe that smaller servings lead to the entire collection being heard,” Thornley shared in a statement.

5. Amos Lee – Honeysuckle Switches: The Songs of Lucinda Williams (Hoagiemouth Records)

Folk artist Amos Lee pays tribute to his “songwriting hero” Lucinda Williams with eleven covers of the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter’s most cherished songs. Lee describes Williams as “the most genuine and kind person. As someone who wasn’t always readily available, her vulnerability opened my heart.”