This In My Room feature is part of a new Scene Report on Dunedin. Check out the series here.
Originally hailing from Dunedin, where lead vocalist Emily Kerr-Bell was an inaugural recipient of the University of Otago’s Six60 scholarship in 2022, and now based in Wellington, Emily Alice fuse jazz and pop — both hugely popular genres in their home country — together into their own unique sound.
Equally comfortable going down the ballad route or dropping something more energetic, their style reminds one of late night hangs in smoky jazz bars, and the band credit the likes of Olivia Dean and the one and only Amy Winehouse as big influences.
Listening to songs like the sleek “That’s Nice” and the slinky “Danger”, it’s easy to hear why Emily Alice — Kerr-Bell is joined in the lineup by Josh Botting (keys), Toby Roseman (guitar), Jakira Brophy (bass) and Erik Dekker (drums) — chosen Wellington as their new home base, with the capital city being a hotbed of modern Aotearoa jazz.
Emily Alice’s five members squeezed into a tight space for their In My Room performance, but they’ve played much bigger stages before.
In March of last year, the up-and-coming band landed a dream support slot for Six60 on their ‘Grassroots Tour’, with Roseman telling the NZ Herald that he was “beyond excited” for the major career moment.
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian/New Zealand music and globally.
View this post on Instagram
For their In My Room session, Emily Alice performed just one song, new single “Find Out” (out on May 27th), but it’s sweet and enthralling, resembling a quintessential NPR Tiny Desk Concert.
Watch their In My Room session above.
View this post on Instagram
“Find Out” is the follow-up to their 2025 single “It’ll Come Around Again”, a solemn piano-led ballad that beautifully isolated Kerr-Bell’s soulful vocals.
