Some of our favourite local musicians share the song that's their soundtrack to summer.
Estère, Marlon Williams, Sam Scott and Chelsea Jade. , Photo: Photos: Ezra Simons and Gussie Larkin/Rebekah Parsons-King/Supplied/James K Lowe
Eddie Johnston, who records as Lontalius and Race Banyon picks 'Telefono' by Phoenix.
Why: “It’s one that I really love … The whole album is Italian-themed, which is a lot of fun. But I think it has a very sentimental kind of feeling, especially because they’re French ... I think they’re dreaming of a different life ... they haven’t experienced. There’s kind of levels of dreamy-ness to the album.”
“This song was my favourite from the album because it’s really sweet and it’s a bit off-kilter. It’s just one loop for five minutes or however long it is, with quite cute lyrics.”
> LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ON RNZ’S SUMMER MUSIC:
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Wellington beat-maker Estère's pick is Vulfpeck's 'Back Pocket'.
Why: “When you said summer, this song is very bright, almost like a jingly melody. It made me feel like there was sun streaming off of it, so I thought it was a fitting song to choose.”
> LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ON RNZ’S SUMMER MUSIC:
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Marlon Williams' pick is 'Wild Horses' by Prefab Sprout.
Why: "This artist was introduced to me by my friend Kirin J Callinan ... [He's] really is the most enigmatic and wonderful human being alive, and Prefab Sprout are his favourite band.
"We were hanging out in LA one night and he just started playing me these songs. I was ... enchanted. I hadn't really heard music like this before. It's sort of got this weird self-awareness to it, and it's self-deprecating but very serious at the same time.
"This one song in particular - the groove of this song, the way it goes into the chorus, it made me want to jam along!"
> LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ON RNZ’S SUMMER MUSIC:
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Chelsea Jade's pick is ‘Sticky’ by Ravyn Lenae.
Why: “It struck me so immediately when I first heard it and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it, and it’s also apt for the type of weather we’re experiencing.”
> LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ON RNZ’S SUMMER MUSIC:
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Sam Scott of The Phoenix Foundation picks 'Bad Liar' by Selena Gomez.
Why: "It’s kind of the only new song I’ve heard this year that’s really captivated me. I don’t know why it really sucked me in so much.
"It has a really cool groove, Tina Weymouth playing the bass, the Talking Heads bassline from ‘Psycho Killer’ … and I just really like Selena Gomez’s voice.
“The first time I heard it … I was like, 'Oh yeah, this is it, this is my jam of the year.' ... It has that clarity of singing right into your brain, that y’know Blondie would have ... When you can hear someone having a good time recording, that’s what I find exciting.”
> LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ON RNZ’S SUMMER MUSIC:
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Steph Brown AKA Lips picks ‘Midnight’ by Jesse Ware.
Why: “I really liked this song as soon as I heard it. Each section had a new surprise in it for me, and it also has this kind of ‘Benny and the Jets’ swagger that I really like. It kinda has this 90s RnB thing in there as well. I just really like the songwriting.”
> LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ON RNZ’S SUMMER MUSIC:
There are more summer jams coming next week!
