Fazerdaze will release her long-awaited second album this year.
Announced today, Soft Power, the follow-up to the New Zealand artist and producer’s acclaimed 2017 debut Morningside, will arrive on Friday, November 15th.
While Fazerdaze, otherwise known as Amelia Murray, stuck to bedroom pop on Morningside, before exploring grunge and shoegaze textures in her 2022 comeback EP, Break!, her forthcoming album is set to offer a more expansive sound, with the musician being influenced by the likes of Tame Impala and U2’s The Joshua Tree.
“I wanted it to sound massive with a feminine twist on those rock records, carving out a space where women’s perspectives shine through,” Fazerdaze explains.
Waiting so long between studio albums, it was her recent EP that offered a liberating break. “What I was searching for in others was something I needed to rediscover in myself,” she says. “I had placed the second album on such a pedestal, but reconnecting with my original process during Break! was the key to finishing this record.”
Fazerdaze recorded and produced the majority of Soft Power alone, with co-mixing by Simon Gooding and engineering assistance from Emily Wheatcroft-Snape on the album’s drum parts.
Of the vision behind Soft Power, which Fazerdaze hails as her “bedroom stadium record,” she shares, “This is what I created during the darkest, loneliest, most tumultuous years of my life – entering womanhood, navigating the world, the music industry, and what I thought was love.
“In my scariest moments, this album was my anchor for hope, purpose, and light. I am so relieved and content to finally share Soft Power with you.”
Arriving alongside today’s album announcement is new single “Cherry Pie,” an ode to Fazerdaze’s decade-long journey of self-discovery.
“‘Cherry Pie’ began as lyrics on my phone during my first overseas trip to LA almost ten years ago. Now, at 31, this song has journeyed with me through many different versions of myself,” Fazerdaze reveals.
You can watch the accompanying music video below. Co-directed by Frances Carter, the clip follows a nocturnal car journey, showing the protagonist shedding old layers and taking control of a new chapter of their life with renewed confidence.
“Frances and I crafted the video around a character who travels solo, letting go of what no longer serves her to finally take the wheel and steer into her next era,” Fazerdaze says of the video.
Break! was nominated for Best Record at the 2023 Panhead Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards, and it was also named one of our Best New Zealand Albums of 2022.
Fazerdaze’s “Cherry Pie” is out now. Soft Power is out Friday, November 15th via Buttrfly/Section1/Partisan Records (pre-save/pre-order here).
Soft Power Tracklist:
- “Soft Power”
- “So Easy”
- “Bigger”
- “Dancing Years”
- “In Blue”
- “A Thousand Years”
- “Purple”
- “Distorted Dreams”
- “Cherry Pie”
- “Sleeper”
- “City Glitter”
