Finn Andrews of The Veils Photo: Jana Te Nahu Owen
After a seven-year long wait, the Veils are back with their new album '…And Out Of The Void Came Love', featuring an array of local talented musicians and special guests.
Written when the world was closed off, isolated and under Covid lockdowns, this double album came very close to not being made, frontman Finn Andrews told RNZ Music 101 contributor Maggie Tweedie.
'I think it was a way to get my dad back' - Listen to the full interview with Finn Andrews here
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"The void was this period before the songs led the way, in the midst of lockdowns and all of that stuff, and I guess the general feeling like there were far bigger fish to fry in the world and you know, would it really matter... there's another one of these bloody albums out there!
"It's been a hard album, it's been the hardest one, I would say, to get together and I guess because of the backdrop."
But it was the news that his partner was pregnant that turned things around for Andrews.
"I really didn't know if I would get this one together and then my partner got pregnant.
"And sort of in the midst of all of that I guess, like having a baby in the middle of a pandemic, tends to make you think about the big things.
Son of established and well-known musician Barry Andrews (Shriekback, XTC and League of Gentlemen), Finn had a complicated relationship with music growing up, but it was always ultimately a way of connecting with his dad.
"Over time, I guess when I moved to New Zealand, away from my dad, suddenly it kind of opened up to me.
"I think it was a way to get my dad back, as well as sort of a bit of a way to communicate with him when we moved here.
"I started writing songs and it was a sort of language that we shared, and it got me back over there very quickly.
"It was route back to Dad in a strange way," he said.
Passing on the family legacy, the final track on the record - Cradle Song - is an ode to Andrews new daughter.
"That song has quite a history for me," he said.
"It was written by my father shortly after I was born about me.
"But then I spent a lot of my young life away from Dad so, I really treasured that song.
"It was always a sort of little message in a bottle from him in England, especially when we moved over to New Zealand.
"I listened to it as a reminder of my dad.
"It's always been a precious song to me and so it made a lot of sense to do my own version, this time for my daughter.
"It's another message in a bottle now to her, to her future self."
With tours coming up across New Zealand, from Littleton, Dunedin Napier, Raglan, Nelson, Wellington to finishing up at the Mighty Power Station in Auckland, Andrews was itching to play live again.
"I felt so crazy not being able to do it for these last few years, so I intend to completely lose my mind while I do it, and I hope to bring everyone else with me."