New Music Friday: 13th Floor New Album Picks: May 24, 2024

New Music Friday is here and we are swamped with quality Kiwi releases. We’ve sorted through as much as we could and come up with these 5 new albums and EPs for your weekend listening pleasure.

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

1. Polite Company – Please Go Wild ( Self) London-based, Aotearoa songwriter Polite Company, aka Alan Gregg, has released this wildly catchy jangle-pop album. You probably know Alan as the bass player for The Muttonbirds and for his work as Marshmallow. “I’m a firm believer that now, more than ever, the world needs more jingly-jangly music,” says Alan. Please Go Wild is a brilliant collection of songs that present an array of topical, thought-provoking subject matter and solidify Alan Gregg as a compelling and seasoned Aotearoa artist.

2. Miss French – The Trials and Tribulations of Miss French Part 2 (Spirit Of Play) Of European descent, Miss French (aka Julie Foai), was born in Aotearoa New Zealand to a musical family who decided to quit the rat race and move to Laingholm, in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s Waitakere ranges. She has toured 40 countries over the last 20 years, taking Pacific music to the world as the manager of internationally acclaimed South Pacific band, Te Vaka. The time seemed right for her to pick up where she left off in her own musical journey. Foai’s debut album The Trials and Tribulations of Miss French Part One, an album of original songs in the vein of jazz, blues and cabaret, was released in 2016 to a very warm reception. After eight years, and many adventures, Miss French now launches The Trials and Tribulations of Miss French Part Two into the world.

3. Emily Bateman – Like I Always Do EP (Self) Tāmaki Makaurau’s Emily Bateman is developing her own musical world, and is proud to finally share her delicately beautiful 5-track EP, Like I Always Do, co-produced by celebrated engineer and drummer Tom Broome. Drawing inspiration from artists such as Lana Del Rey, Big Thief and Mazzy Star, Emily skillfully blends folk, pop and rock elements to craft dreamy ballads and indie-pop numbers, bringing them to life with the help of instrumentalists Chip Matthews, Rafael Hannah, Tom Broome, Otis Christoffersen and Jesse Schroder-Smale.

 

4. Lilly Carron – And The Clouds Came Undone (A Label Called Sucess/Sony) The 6-track project was produced by break-out duo Balu Brigada. Following debut single ‘Apricot Sun’ in August last year, Carron has journeyed searching for self across a string of releases. Fresh out of high school, the young songwriter released her first single ‘Evaporate The Rain’ in 2019, followed by her debut EP messy mind in 2020. Exploring her own coming-of age and that of those around her, she was described as an artist whose ‘material clips close to the bone for those of us growing up in the millenia’. And that proved to connect, amassing over 6 million streams and rave reviews. Lilly Carron has solidified her position as one of New Zealand’s up-and-coming ones to watch.

5. Park Rd – The Novel (Loop) The Auckland indie-rockers finally release their debut album. The Novel stands as a testament to PARK RD‘s evolution as musicians and individuals and offers listeners an intimate glimpse into their heads and hearts. Reflecting on the album, the band shares, “It feels like its own little world. The main theme of the album is definitely love. Once we had all the main instruments, we would add ‘the vibes’ and sprinkle little details like synths or guitar parts that only happen once in the song,” the band reveals. You can hear more from Park Rd when we post The 13th Floor interview very soon!