Great British Bakeoff Voice It’s album week!

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Tapestry by Jean Lurçat

Hello my sweets. I can’t quite believe it — the 20th is almost upon us. Three days from now, Solar Power will be yours. I’m not gonna get mushy, I’ll be saving that for the inevitable MUSHY ALBUM DAY BULLETIN, but I will say that at the moment I’m feeling the classic pre-album cocktail of fragile and psyched and shy at all times. This album took thousands of hours and a zillion units of personal growth to make and it’s starting to hit me.

Moving on…

It is my cosmic pleasure to share MOOD RING with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I realised I had to write this song late last year — I kept waking up in the night and writing lines of lyric into my phone, which is how I usually know something’s gonna become a song. It was really interesting distilling some thoughts on wellness culture and the search for spiritual meaning in our modern world into a 3-minute pop song. The kind of challenge she likes best! Part of why this album was so FUN to make was that I got to explore these tropes of people seeking wellness, enlightenment or even utopia. The person who welcomes you to the island in Solar Power video is one, the dude in Dominoes is another, and now we can add this little lady to the mix. I didn’t name her, but you should go hard. I’ll say it once and then never again: this is satire. She is not me. :-)

It goes without saying I feel tons of empathy for this character. It was never my intention to fully flame her, although I don’t let her off the hook. We’re living through wild times, and it’s tough to begrudge anyone the methods they employ to feel sane, questionable though they may be. Something like a mood ring represented a sort of magical thinking, the same kind I dip into when I get my aura photographed, or try and bend my horoscope to my will — when I just need to believe something in a moment to feel good or clear. And deep down, I DO feel cozy and connected when someone asks me to ======set an intention for my practise===== at that start of a Pilates class, you know? Maybe you recognise elements of this character in yourself — I certainly sprinkled some things in that came straight from my life. Literally sprinkled… see chia seeds. Anyway I hope you love this song and video— I’m really proud of them both. PS This video was soooo relaxing to shoot, I can’t even tell you… I felt like I had had a spa day by the end. Eerie soothing case in point!!!

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I’m deeply indebted to many sources of inspo here — this great piece by Jia on optimisation, this also great piece by my friend Tess on crystal provenance, the general realisation that many wellness practises adopted by white women have rough consequences for indigenous peoples, every drink that looks like this, every little dropper bottle full of expensive black liquid that claims to “detoxify”, the Daily Mail, Erewhon, and of course the ultimate mood ring, my iP***e.

Other fun stuff that has happened that you’ve probably seen by now— this NYT diary of a song on SP, along with these beautiful photos by Justin J Wee (who had a Team lyric tattoo and didn’t tell me, way to bury the lede Justin!!!)

I wanted to show you the music box - obviously don’t look at this if you don’t want to see any of the art - but i figured it might help to have it explained. It’s sooo cool. (We’ve put together a few limited run merch pieces made by NZ makers I love, and you’ll only be able to access these if you’ve purchased the music box. I’m working on these with different makers all the time— expect these to pop up sporadically in the next year. There’ll also be a few exclusive merch designs in there. Regular merch (including some hot hot hot new designs) will all available thru my site.)

Also I finally got my hands on a deluxe vinyl — holyyyyy shiiiiit, you are gonna freak. By far the best vinyl I’ve ever ever made. Massive thanks to my designer Hassan and his team who murdered this. Ophelia’s reaction was very cute.

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My goodness, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these emails you send touch me VERY DEEPLY! Don’t know what I did to deserve such sweet, sensitive thoughtful people in my life. I’m replying to a few emails direct when I can.

Firstly, we need to give SCWWTS Kyra props for this INCREDIBLE crocheted SP bag! Like what Kyra!! I’m so impressed.

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SCWWTS Matthew sent a lovely thoughtful email pointing out some of the linguistic connections between songs — lines like ‘half of my wardrobe is on your bedroom floor’ and ‘got a memory of waiting in your bed wearing only my earrings’ — he asked “Are these bonds/connections/evolutions between your songs — now spanning three albums/eras and almost a decade — intentionally crafted, or is it more of a spiritual, subconscious thing?” Great question Matthew, they’re almost always intentional. I really love building in those little links and connections between past eras, and I try to be really careful and intentional with how I use language in songs. For example, there’s a moment on Solar Power I rework the ‘every perfect summer’ line from Liability — which invokes the original source while giving it new meaning for a new life stage. And those two lines you mentioned were actually set in the same bedroom. You clever thing.

SCWWTS Declan and SP share a birthday, which is delicious to me!! Happy Birthday, Declan! I’ll be thinking of you and sweet Hamish on the day.

SCsWWTS Felix and Nuria both asked what my favourite nail polish colour is. For a very long time I’ve gotten a shade called Oxblood on my toes. I’m also preferential to a deep, rich brown. I went to a nail salon the other day and realised, ‘Oh, I’ve totally fucked this for myself, I’m gonna be getting these weird looks from people when I’m getting pedicures for the rest of my life.’ It’s lit!

SCWWTS Chris wants to know if I have any interest in learning a language. It’s funny you ask that, Chris, because that’s since crept in as a bit of an upcoming goal. I’m keen to improve my te reo Māori, and I’d also love to learn Spanish one day! I still don’t have my license tho, so…. Maybe that first, Ella?

SCWWTS Sofía wrote, “The tall buildings and nice people of Mexico City are all I have ever know and leaving them behind, even if it could be just for a while, is frightening to me. Do you have any advice to jump head first into new adventures? I would love to hear your thoughts”. Sofía, I struggle with this myself. I find new places and people very stimulating and if I’m not in the right headspace, they can overwhelm me. My therapist gave me a really great way to frame this once, though — she said something along the lines of “This discomfort is a feeling you exchange for getting to live a bright, full life. In going out past your depth, metaphorically speaking, you are making a commitment to being as alive as you possibly can.” I hope that helps.

I guess that’s all? Here’s a photo of me typing this mailer.

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Love and other indoor sports, L xxxx

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