Molly Payton on her debut LP YOYOTTA
Photo: Supplied
"This feels like the start of my career."
Molly Payton began recording in her teens and has already released plenty of music. But she says YOYOTTA (an acronym of the song title 'You're on Your Own This Time Again'), encapsulates everything she's done so far.
"I wanted there to be something for everyone who's been with me from the start," she says, describing a collection that spans fiery anthems 'Accelerate' and the title track, to vulnerable ballads 'Asphalt' and 'Devotion', as well as songs like 'Get Back to You', which she describes as "a declaration of what will be next: more live-sounding, really natural, classic rock".
She is 23 and has been based in England since she was 16, aside from an extended stint back in New Zealand, during which time she made the album.
Casting an eye over her career, it is dotted with highlights like appearing on the BBC, performing at Pitchfork Paris and Primavera festivals, and supporting notable artists like Alex G, Arlo Parks, and Beabadoobee.
The album centres around a formative moment in Payton's life: When she was 18, her father was sent to prison. Asked about turning real life challenges into music, she says, "by not writing about it I actually got really bad writer's block.
"After making this record I've been writing so much. It's really unblocked me, creatively."
Are there worries about regretting certain lyrics down the line? "It's always a fear. That was probably the hardest part of this record. I am talking about something that is still really recent, and not just personal to me, but to my family. It's a story that is not just mine to tell.
"The title track is very angry, but as important as it is to express the anger, it's just as important to express how much you just need your dad sometimes [on the track 'Thrown Over'].
"Especially with everything that I was going through with my career," she says, referring to parting ways with her record label, "Often you just want to talk to your dad, and give him a hug.
"Having to choose to separate yourself from a parent is really hard."
She sings the praises of British musician Oscar Lang, who flew to New Zealand to co-produce YOYOTTA ("he's such a good producer, so smart, so creative"), and is modest about her success ("it's just a dream, I hope I can do it forever").
The album is filled with assured, accessible tracks, sometimes flirting with pop but always grounded, led by Payton's rich vocal delivery. That there is plenty more to come seems inevitable.
For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward
Photo: Bandcamp
M. Ward's 2006 performance at Auckland's Dogs Bollix stands as the hottest gig I have ever been to. Still, everyone there was rapt, albeit sweaty, and the temperature suited his sultry music.
Since 1999 he has been outputting classically structured, huskily crooned tunes, with the most recent entry coming in 2023. And while this collection purports to showcase his time signed to Merge Records, it actually includes songs from just four of six possible albums.
Just a fragment of a larger whole, then, but the 2000s were a particularly fertile time for Ward, and consequently every track here is a gem.
'Poison Cup' remains crushingly romantic, and 'Magic Trick' is jaunty and sarcastic. But the highlight might be his cover of David Bowie's 'Let's Dance', which turns the swagger of the original inward, to spine-tingling effect.
Endlessness by Nala Sinephro
Photo: Bandcamp
An album based around the same handful of notes, turned into a series of lush, dynamic tracks, is an impressive trick. That this Belgian-born, UK-based jazz musician arranged and played much of it herself, even more so.
Sinephro's pedal harp and modular synthesisers repeat themselves melodically, but change in every other way, the album's mix of structure and improvisation yielding pieces that float in and out of focus, snapping into the foreground when a drum kit enters, or heading somewhere more blissful in the moments when a string section takes centre stage.
Tony Stamp reviews the latest album releases every week on The Sampler.