PONZ performed a stripped-back song for her Rolling Stone AU/NZ ‘In My Room’ session.
In “Fantasies”, PONZ explores UKG and house music, and has released remixes as part of a short EP featuring Sly Chaos, Unwell, and Manchester producer Ethemeral.
“When I started writing ‘Fantasies’ I was focusing on painting a story and making the lyrics very visual,” PONZ says of her latest single. “As soon as I completed the verse and begun the production phase, Ben and I added in the plucks which you can hear throughout the song. Once they were in there everything else melted into place and the song came together super naturally.”
PONZ recorded “Fantasies” with her friend and producer Ben Hollamby (Pirapus), who helped shape the track’s sound. “Ben’s involvement really brought my ideas for ‘Fantasies’ to life. Initially, the vocals were also sung with a much more intense delivery, but Ben really encouraged the soft delivery which set the track on a beautiful trajectory,” she explains.
Now that “Fantasies” is released, PONZ feels excited about this new direction in her music: “I feel great now that the track is done! I’m very excited to see the reaction to Fantasies and I have a good feeling about this new direction! ‘Fantasies’ is start of a new chapter for me.”
Since debuting in 2020 with the Pirapus collaboration “Fragments”, PONZ has collaborated with various New Zealand drum and bass artists. When not writing or producing, she DJs with artists like Netsky and Hybrid Minds, and performs at summer festivals like Bay Dreams. In 2024, she released her debut EP Can We Go Back?, which has amassed nearly 100,000 streams, and started a monthly residency on the UK’s Kool FM, focusing on jungle and drum and bass music.
PONZ’s Fantasies (Remixes) is out now. Watch her full ‘In My Room’ session above.
