You know it’s been a great year of music releases when the sheer volume of excellent EPs alone necessitates its own list.
When Rolling Stone AU/NZ‘s editorial team gathered to compile our Best of 2024 album lists for Australia and New Zealand, it immediately became clear that restricting each list to full LPs would mean the exclusion of some dazzling EPs.
From a beautiful triptych of waiata, to a rapper confirming her star status, so many EPs dropped in Aotearoa this year that weren’t any less impactful for their shorter length.
So without further ado, we present to you our 15 favourite New Zealand EPs of 2024, ranked. And keep an eye out for our Best Albums of 2024 lists arriving later this week.
15. Blake – I’m Doing Fine!
The latest name to feature in our Up-And-Coming Aotearoa Artists series, Blake’s genial pop songs are an infectious listen on her new EP. Blake sounds at home as lead producer for the first time, the final product confirmation that her “empowering” decision to ensure a “sustainable future” as an artist was the correct call.
14. Jason Parker – Fairy Bread
If you’re in dire need of an injection of positivity, play Jason Parker’s music. The Auckland artist makes pure, fun-filled pop that doesn’t try to be anything it’s not.
“The idea of Fairy Bread really is about taking something and making it better… coming from darkness into light,” Parker said of his EP, and after listening to these sweet songs, your day will be immeasurably brightened.
13. Flamingo Pier – Supro
New Zealand’s premier party starters have enjoyed a big year, touring the world, including an inaugural US leg. The four tracks on Supro highlight exactly why Flamingo Pier have transitioned from local dancefloor legends into a globetrotting group: they know their way around a delicious groove.
12. Reiki Ruawai – The Message
Reiki Ruawai shows why he’s one of Aotearoa’s brightest hopes for R&B and soul music on The Message. Road-testing a new sing-rap style, whichever way Ruawai performs in these tracks, his vocals are outstanding.
If you subscribe to the belief that the main purpose of an EP is to try out new things before a full-length album, then Ruawai’s courageous experimentation on The Message is to be admired.
11. Louis Baker – Medicine
Louis Baker’s latest release is here to remind us that music is the ultimate remedy. The soul sensation’s vocals are as soothing as ever on his third EP offering, which happens to be his first as sole producer. The highlight has to be “Been and Gone”, the Wallace-featuring track that earned Baker a place in the APRA Silver Scrolls Top 20.
10. MACEY – how to say goodbye
MACEY has always been a highly emotive singer-songwriter, but he’s perhaps never bared his soul so openly as he does on his intimate new EP.
Harry Parsons, the man behind the MACEY project, headed back to the UK, where he originally hails from, to find inspiration for his new project. After writing with new collaborators and learning to let go of negative feelings, the result is MACEY’s most mature songwriting yet.
9. Rita Mae – Kiss the Sky
Our recent four-star review of Kiss the Sky says it all:
“Hailing from a musical family can be a burden more than a blessing, but Rita Mae, daughter of late Jean-Paul Sartre Experience guitarist Jim Laing, developed her tender songwriting talent at a measured pace, earning admiration from artists like Molly Payton.
“On her new EP, Mae is uninhibited, the collection skewing towards Nineties-indebted alternative and grunge, a move that plays as authentic rather than pastiche.”
8. Phoebe Rings – Phoebe Rings
We don’t just book any old acts for Rolling Stone House at SXSW Sydney. Auckland’s dream-pop band were a worthy inclusion in our week-long SXSW Sydney event in October, providing a much-needed mellow reprieve from more frenetic acts on the bill.
Phoebe Rings’ Rolling Stone House appearance coincided with the reissue of their 2021 self-titled EP, given a boost via Carpark Records. “We play dreamy pop songs with bleepy synths,” singer Crystal Choi told us in October, which pretty much nails the blissful sound of their EP.
7. Muroki – Timezones
It feels foolish to call an artist with over 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners underrated, but Muroki still feels slightly underrated. Released on BENEE‘s Olive Records (BENEE guests on EP track “Middle Ground”), Timezones finds Muroki looking towards D’Angelo, André 3000, and Chldish Gambino to create “a black soul record.”
Muroki’s EP is also memorable for its deft genre-hopping, his lithe vocals sounding sublime whether they’re backed by funk, soul, or rock rhythms. A full-length album from Muroki can’t come soon enough.
6. Wiri Donna – In My Chambers
We’ve been following Wiri Donna – aka Bianca Bailey – since we featured her in our Eight Kiwi Artists Tipped to Take Over feature in early 2023. We anticipated a full-length album, but In My Chambers has more than enough to keep listeners entertained in the meantime.
Her second EP effortlessly expands into grittier and heartier rock territory than her 2022 debut Being Alone, the six tracks influenced by feminine rage and James Goldsmith’s guidance on production.
Watch Wiri Donna’s recent Rolling Stone AU/NZ In My Room session here.
5. David Dallas – Vita
An eight-track EP? You’re spoiling us, David Dallas. One of Aotearoa’s very best rappers gets personal on Vita (which is an abbreviation of his Samoan name Tavita), which was written back in the South Auckland house he grew up in, following the passing of his brother, with longtime collaborator Nick “41 Beats” Maclaren by his side.
Such a setting would impact anyone’s art, and Dallas spares no feeling or story on this EP. Vita is, at its core, a storytelling feat.
4. TE KAAHU – I Roto I Te Poo, I Roto I Te Ao
TE KAAHU is back. Theia put her Māori language project to one side for a year or two while she returned to the world of alt-pop, but it was never likely to be away for long. TE KAAHU released this triptych of waiata just last week, and it’s as intimate and moving as anything she’s released before.
The small EP revolves around the theme of aroha (love), each waiata accompanied by hushed recitations of the lyrics in both te reo Māori and te reo Pākehā. TE KAAHU’s EP makes for a nice dichotomy with the rage and anger of Theia’s latest single, “BALDH3AD!”.
Read our recent profile of Theia/TE KAAHU here.
3. Jujulipps – SUPERSTAR
The title of Jujulipps’ new EP speaks for itself – and it’s no premature statement.
“Auckland-based rapper Jujulipps introduced herself in style last year with her Get That Shot EP (featuring the joyous “Airplane Mode”), and its follow-up is just as statement-making,” we wrote in a highly positive review last month.
“Working closely with WHO SHOT SCOTT, the pair have crafted a forward-facing collection that dizzyingly bolts through hip-hop, punk and alternative rock, often in the span of one track. Jujulipps refuses to be pigeonholed.” Everyone better be prepared for Jujulipps’ debut album hitting the world.
2. Recitals – I GOT GOLD!
Recitals’ Bandcamp bio cites them as “the poster children for band democracy,” and, true to this description, each talented member of the ensemble gets plentiful opportunity to shine on I GOT GOLD!, despite the band members being spread across several continents.
Recitals’ sound is reminiscent of acclaimed British trio Still House Plants, another egalitarian ensemble that favours no one instrument, that uses fragmented parts to conjure beautiful compositions. Both bands’ style is unrestricted, flirting with post-rock and neo-soul and slowcore – the list could go on.
Every flicker of imagination, every experimental flash is writ large in Recitals’ songs, the creative process seemingly unfolding in real time. And when it all comes together, it’s something to behold; try listening to “Sunflower” without being carried away by its growing majesty. Like Still House Plants, Recitals are a band very much of their time – which is meant as a huge compliment.
1. Office Dog – Doggerland
What an ascension these past two years have been for Office Dog. Kane Strang’s new indie rock band released their debut album, Spiel, last year, which garnered a positive review from Pitchfork and placed on our Best New Zealand Albums of 2023 list.
“Kane Strang was a firm favourite among an entire generation of Kiwi indie kids due to his thoughtful garage-pop gems, and his new musical output as leader of Office Dog is just as excellent,” we praised.
The band then embarked on their first-ever North American tour this year, supporting Nada Surf in Philadelphia, Boston, and other major cities, and they also shared a new EP, Doggerland. The seven-track collection finds Office Dog leaning into “softer textures and more experimental songwriting,” which is really what a quick follow-up EP is for, but several of these tracks would be standouts on a full-length album.
Nothing tops the towering “Dump No Waste, Flows to the Sea”, an Odyssean journey (despite it stretching just past the four-minute mark) that would be the crowning achievement of a lesser band. Instead, you suspect that Office Dog are already preparing several more tracks of similar quality for 2025 and beyond.
Read our recent interview with Strang about Office Dog and his solo music here.
