This week’s hot local tracks are brought to you by 95bFM’s Adel Abeid! You can listen to more of Adel’s selections on ‘The two to Four with Adel & Charlie’ every Friday.
It never was by Vera Ellen
A passionately sweet ballad by “Vera Ellen” that features on her brand-new EP. This has everything you want in a pure kiwi ballad, it has heart, plucky guitars, and a wonderful amount of self-awareness. For fans of “Sharon van Etten” or “Angel Olsen”, you will be sure to fall in love with her vocal tones and personality on this track. “Vera Ellen” is one to look out for in the local NZ music scene.
Slush by Sulfate
Sulfate releases an intriguing slow burner with their new track Slush. The screeching guitars that pop out in the background create a deliciously tense atmosphere and when it transitions to the chorus the guitars pick up the tempo and it just sounds so satisfying. This song achieves a very chilling atmosphere that carries what “Peter Ruddell” did with “Wax Chattels” but makes things sound mysterious and tense without having to be loud and frantic.
Knew me by L V J
This new rap song by “L V J” embraces the quirks of the internet, making a track that’s equal parts charming and brash. There is a very progressive quality to this song especially how the song expands to an attention-grabbing outro. The constant changes in vocal pitch and instrumental switch ups make you feel like you get taken through an experimental rap rollercoaster. It first felt like there was too much going on in the track, but by the end everything felt like it paid off magnificently.
May 6th SODA BOYZ
Talk about opening your new album with a massive punch. “SODA BOYZ” bring relentless energy with disorienting guitar tones and vocal spasms that I do not even have words for to be completely honest. This track is not just sporadic noise, there is a groove to it that is kind of infectious in the strangest way possible. I love a good opening track that serves as a mission statement to the rest of the album and I think “SODA BOYZ” does that perfectly with “May 6th”.