SJD Announces The Sweetheart Tour 2023

SJD Announces The Sweetheart Tour 2023. Sean James Donnelly, better known to indie and electronica fans by his now iconic initials SJD, will tour New Zealand this June/ July with the SJD The Sweetheart Tour Aotearoa 2023. 

This New Zealand tour celebrates SJD’s ninth album ‘Sweetheart’ which was released in October 2022. This album is a bold statement tackling thoughts of isolation, loneliness, and depression and features an impressive cast of contributors, including Tami Neilson, Don McGlashan, James Milne (Lawrence Arabia), Anika Moa, Julia Deans, Deryk, EJ Barnes, Sandy Mill, Peau Halapua and Chris O’Connor (The Phoenix Foundation).

Praised as one of SJD’s finest releases to date, Sweetheart can feel like a kaleidoscopic view of the Aotearoa songwriter / producer’s multi-faceted output thus far, embracing everything from deeply felt soul-pop balladry to psych-tinted electronica, starry-eyed night grooves, rustic folk, cinematic post-rock arrangements and beyond.

Donnelly has released 8 albums under the nom-de-plume SJD since 1998 – taking a piecemeal approach to genre, thoughtfully employing electronics, strings and sounds to subvert the traditional 3 minute pop song structure.

A quiet overachiever, SJD is one of Aotearoa’s most lauded songwriters, winning two Aotearoa Music Awards, the Taite Music Prize (in 2013 for Elastic Wasteland), and was shortlisted for the APRA Silver Scroll in 2007 for his song Beautiful Haze.

SJD is not only a celebrated recording artist in his own right, he is also a multi-instrumentalist and producer with many notable New Zealand artists, composed for film and television and made forays into experimental acoustic and electronic music and video. He has also composed multiple feature film soundtracks and for public and private commissions. Donnelly currently resides in Dunedin under the Mozart Fellowship at Otago University.

Audiences across Aotearoa will be treated to SJDs legendary live performances, which will include lead single ‘You Are The Movement‘; a cool, synth-pop bop with an undeniable catchy energy.

SJD The Sweetheart Tour 2023

Dunedin, The Crown – Friday 23 June 
Christchurch, Space Academy – Saturday 24 June
Auckland, Hollywood –  Friday 30 June
Wellington, Meow – Saturday 1 July 

Tickets from Banished Music
Presale starts Friday 28 April, 10am 
General sale starts May 1, 9am
Sign up for the Banished Music presale here
Praise for SJD

“If Sean James Donnelly could cash-in all the many stars he’s had on his reviews over the years, he would be probably be our wealthiest local musician.” – NZ Herald

“SJD to the musical world – has quietly become one of NZ’s key musicians of the 21st century. ‘Sweetheart’ is a delight, and the best album SJD has made to date.” – NZ Musician

“A long overdue album from a Mozart Fellow who needs no introduction.” – Elsewhere

“Sean Donnelly — the aesthete and seeker of musical truth, whose music is a deft combination of the familiar and a deviation from accepted norms.” – Metro