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| Photo - Charlotte Patmore |
Today, American-born, London-based songwriter Joni shares "Still Young," a new single from her forthcoming debut album, Things I Left Behind, out April 11th via her twin homes of Keeled Scales (North America) and Hand In Hive (in the UK and the rest of the world).
"Still Young", Things I Left Behind's penultimate track, was also the song that kickstarted the process of writing the album and, as such, holds an important place on the record. A brooding four minutes, 'Still Young' is indicative of the charm that Joni exudes: the confessional lyrics, a weary heart, but elevated by an endearing and compelling sense of pop nous that shimmers throughout.
"I originally wrote this song for my little sister who was going through a rough patch," Joni explains, "but then somewhere down the line she got her life together and things were kind of unraveling for me... I remember being on tour and thinking that the perspective had shifted and I was really just singing the song to myself. I think it’s good to be in touch with younger versions of yourself and to carry them with you as you move through life."
When Joni says that “pain is the price you pay for loving someone” it’s coming from a place of deep experience. Having relocated to London from LA with her long-term partner, and closest musical collaborator, the singer-songwriter suddenly found herself thrust into a deeply unsettling break-up, one that left her isolated in a brand new country, and also one that pulled back the curtain on a host of unhealthy patterns she had become accustomed to within the relationship.
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| Photo - Gabrielle Mary |
2024 was a big year for rising Aotearoa songstress, Vera Ellen. The year found her awarded the coveted Taite Music Prize for her 2023 album ‘Ideal Home Noise’, touring 14 dates across mainland China, and flying through 10 sold-out arena shows around Australia with Crowded House… all while hard at work in the studio with longtime producer and collaborator Ben Lemi, working on what’s to come.
Today Vera shares delicate forbidden-love-anthem ‘sangria (demo)’, A fan-favourite from recent sunny festival sets at Laneway Festival and Twisted Frequency. This track is performed, recorded and mixed by Vera herself, and in keeping with its DIY essence, it’s paired with a self-edited music video.
The video is composed of lo-fi footage captured in earlier days of summer; commemorating time spent on a national tour with fellow Flying Nun alumni Voom and Reb Fountain, as well as being on the road with Aotearoa icons Crowded House, playing to their masses of Australian fans at iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House.
About the song Vera shares “‘Sangria’ is an ode to all the romantic halfwits who know about wanting something they shouldn't have. The intoxicating mix of alcohol and the familiar scent of an old lover. Saying 'to hell with it!' and doing the thing you mustn't in the name of a particularly inviting moon.”
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