British-born, New Zealand–raised singer-songwriter MACEY is stepping into a more expansive, reflective era, announcing his second album, Once, set for release this July via FiveAM/Warner Music New Zealand.
Alongside the news, he’s shared a new single, “We Still Happened”, a quietly devastating meditation on love, impermanence, and what lingers after both.
Written in London during a first-time collaboration with producers Luis Issermann and Will Farquarson, “We Still Happened” captures a moment of emotional uncertainty that spiralled into something universal.
“I was thinking about my partner at the time, and how I didn’t know if we’d always feel so in love — that ‘what if’ anxiety,” MACEY explains. “Then that line ‘we still happened’ came together. Even if we love and lose someone, or if the world ends in a natural disaster… we still happened. It’s a celebrate of the fact that I’m here, alive, and how lucky I am to even have that.”
That sense of perspective carries through Once, a ten-track record that shifts away from the strictly autobiographical lens of his debut and instead builds a broader world of characters and stories — much of it shaped by time spent in London, observing strangers and fleeting interactions on the tube.
“With this album, it feels like I’m looking at everything from a more mature and reflective place rather than reactive,” MACEY says. “I flew to London to do some writing sessions, and every day I was surrounded by people from every walk of life. I was observing everything — every character, every interaction — and of course, I started writing about what I was seeing.”
The album opens with previous single “Mona Lisa Money“, a folk-leaning anti-capitalism fable co-written in Limehouse that follows a man chasing wealth at the expense of everything else. The track landed at No. 18 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart and drew early praise, hinting at the more ambitious songwriting direction MACEY leans into across the record.
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It also contains “Clementine“, released in February, which saw the Auckland-based singer-songwriter team up with close collaborator Ben Malone, and last year’s single “Seaside Wishes”.
Sonically, Once threads together indie-rock, folk, and soul, sitting in the space between Britpop and Americana and filtered through MACEY’s distinctly British-Kiwi voice. Lyrically, it moves through weightier terrain — capitalism, politics, love, grief, and resilience — without losing the intimacy that defined his 2023 debut, The Lovers.
That first record debuted at No. 3 on the NZ Albums Chart and earned a spot in Rolling Stone AU/NZ’s Best New Zealand Albums of the 2020s So Far, setting a high bar for what follows.
MACEY’s “We Still Happened” is out now. ONCE arrives July 3rd and can be pre-saved now.
