Fazerdaze has shared another taste of her forthcoming album, Soft Power.
Titled “A Thousand Years,” the new single offers a more electronic-leading sound than the rest of the album.
Lyrically, it’s a vulnerable listen: the track scratches the surface of the power dynamics I experienced in my late teens and twenties with someone 20 years older—a dynamic that lasted over a decade,” Fazerdaze, otherwise known as Amelia Murray, says.
“With Soft Power, I hope this record inspires people to see that true power doesn’t come from control or dominance, it comes from something much quieter and deeper within us. True power radiates from the heart, not the head, and leads from love rather than fear. I hope to see a world where soft power is the star.”
The accompanying music video was filmed, directed, and edited in Fazerdaze’s own home “in the depths of Christchurch winter.”
“I wanted this video and song to feel unsettled, on edge, isolated and detached,” she adds. “The video is a self-portrait of my experience with high-functioning depression. My character exists within a box that never stays the same. It tightens, expands, but never at her will.
“I wanted to show feelings of isolation and powerlessness. My character appears composed – makeup, a suit – but psychologically is not.”
Fazerdaze will release her long-awaited second album next month.
Soft Power, the follow-up to the New Zealand artist and producer’s acclaimed 2017 debut Morningside, will arrive on Friday, November 15th.
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.”
In between her two albums, Fazerdaze released the EP Break!, which was nominated for Best Record at the 2023 Panhead Rolling Stone Aotearoa Awards. It was also named one of our Best New Zealand Albums of 2022.
Fazerdaze’s “A Thousand Years” 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”
