Photo: Albert Purcell
RNZŌ SZN by RNZŌ
At Laneway festival this year in Auckland, the youngest performer was also a local. RNZŌ is 18 years old, and only released his first single in August last year. But he already has a large groundswell of support, and aided by some key figures in Auckland's hip-hop scene, his debut is bursting with youthful bluster, regional specificity, and ear-pleasing rhymes.
Church, AP, Deadforest, and Dera Meelan, who make up the Zips collective, all appear here. It's interesting to see these still-young musicians move into a mentoring role, which is how RNZŌ refers to them in an interview with Rolling Stone.
Meelan's production is a huge component of RNZŌ SZN, distinctive bleeping bass and what sounds like a sitar sample on 'Nun Like Me', and a UK Garage influence on 'Hardy'.
But the album succeeds thanks to its teenage creator's huge force of personality, whether celebrating his Māori lineage on 'Taniwharau', mentioning homework on 'Atlaniz', or outlining exactly what kind of rapper he doesn't want to be on the title track.
Manu 2 Much from Mokomai guests too, and since the album's release RNZŌ has released a freestyle produced by Haz Beats from Homebrew. These co-signs and appearance of the Zips crew speak to a confidence behind the scenes, and RNZŌ SZN comfortably delivers the goods.
LOWER by Benjamin Booker
Photo: Bandcamp
American musician Benjamin Booker released his debut over ten years ago, a mix of garage rock, blues and soul, followed up in 2017 by a collection with a slightly more sensitive side. His third heads in the opposite direction, mixing tough beats with distortion and announcing his intentions in its title: Lower.
'Pompeii Statues' visually connects the plaster casts of victims from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius to unhoused people in LA. As the narrator drives through the city, Booker sings, "Going deeper into madness/ Going deeper into darkness". It's a scathing portrait that mirrors the album's name.
'LWA in the Trailer Park' refers to spirits from certain African diasporic religions. Booker has written about racism in America before, and here alternates between angry and defeated. But the dark songs remain interesting and vital, and some bright spots, like 'Show and Tell' do sneak through. That one contains enough good vibes to balance the entire album.
His pop instincts remain, they're just refracted through a particularly smudged lens.
Crawling Chorus by Ripship
Photo: Bandcamp
Pōneke's Ripship draw on krautrock, new wave, synth-pop, and even circus music on their second album, with lyrics just as broad, featuring sci-fi imagery alongside dreamscapes, satanic panic, and Spongebob Squarepants.
A local touch point would be expat duo Earth Tongue, although that band skews toward heavy metal. Crawling Chorus contains its share of weighty riffs, but the electronic components and general anything-goes attitude reminded me of post-rock band Trans Am, who in the late nineties were homaging Kraftwerk with beefier arrangements.
Rae McLean and Callum Lincoln share vocal duties, good storytellers and dynamic, diverse musicians. The album is a lot of fun, light on personal detail but punchy and propulsive throughout.
Tony Stamp reviews the latest album releases every week on The Sampler.
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