There seems to be something in the water over in New Zealand at the moment. Not particularly famous for its music (bar the likes of Crowded House and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa), there has nevertheless been a strong underground/cult scene since the 80s, led by the Flying Nun label (who are releasing this album) and bands like The Chills. More recently, Bic Runga, Connan Mockasin and Lorde have helped to put NZ on the map, trailblazing the way for what is a building head of steam for quality bands and singer/songwriters, beginning with the likes of Aldous Harding, Nadia Reid and now, Fazerdaze.

Amelia Murray (aka Fazerdaze) records dreamy indie-pop songs from her bedroom in Auckland, New Zealand using guitars, bass, electronic drums and synths. Named after the area of Aukland she calls home, Morningside is her debut and is full of songs reflecting on intense teenage friendships, inward looking love songs, the joys of travel, and being bad at replying to texts. It's a scrappy bedroom record made with heart, whose DIY set-up belies a complex set of ideas hiding in its psyche. "I recorded the songs in multiple different spaces; various flats I was moving between, friend’s houses, practice spaces, studios etc. To me, the many different recording locations reflect how displaced and unsettled I was feeling through making it, all the while I was in search for a home and stability. I wrote and recorded it through a transitional time so looking back, the album was a safe space for me to process and observe myself."

And so it proves on Morningside, a work not so much full of outward angst, but contemplative introspection, as delivered by this quietly unassuming onstage persona. But by golly, does much of her music get right under the skin via some insanely catchy melodies and infectiously mesmerising rhythms. And not more so than on ‘Lucky Girl’, a ludicrously contagious slice of perfect pop as Murray warmly observes that, “I know sometimes I act like I don't care about you /I know I'm a lucky girl,” with a barely contained urgency via handclaps, a skittering beat and dual guitar interplay.

Other highlights include the rhythmic My Bloody Valentine-meets-Cocteau Twins of ‘Little Uneasy’, which has an accompanying video, a beguiling one take shot of Murray gently meandering along a long road; the lo-fi-slacker Pixies style of ‘Misread’; the jangly arpeggio of ‘Jennifer’, a song about female friendship; and the indie-melancholy of ’Take It Slow’, which again depicts a life of growing pains: ”It seems so far already, it seems so far to go / I don't know if I'm ready, I'll take it slow”. The influence of The Pixies can also be heard on the almost ‘Gigantic’-esque ‘Friends’, simple bass and drums leading the song before meeting an explosion of propulsive electric guitar.

Clocking at just over 30 minutes, Morningside is a compact introduction to Fazerdaze, pretty much recorded all by Murray in a DIY bedroom manner. No fuss, no over-arranging, no fat. Just lean, gritty-dreamy teenage vignettes of fast becoming a woman, aided by some beautifully textured yet uber-simple guitar lines and shoegazed rhythms. A languid and reverb-soaked, easy-on-the ear vocal and an underlying sound aesthetic that conjures days of hanging out on a sun-drenched summer’s day.
Jeff Hemmings

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