14 Oct 2024 // An interview by Tim Gruar

Kirsten Morrell is possibly one of the most delightful and charming people in music that I have even interviewed. She was so generous with her time. That lilting, golden, London-Cornish-Kiwi accent is also delightful. It’s the same one you hear on all her albums and is comforting, quirky, playful even. And positive. Always distinctive. When I called Kirsten up at her home in Mt. Eden, we chatted about many things – the Opera scene here and in London, connections with iconic Kiwi musos, writing new music, teenage backpacking trips and moving back to Aotearoa.

Kirsten Morrell shouldn’t need an introduction. But in case you do, here’s a super quick one. She is well known, perhaps even legendary, for being the co-writer and front-person, along with Geoff Maddock, in Goldenhorse. The band released three multi-platinum albums, starting with one of Aotearoa’s most beloved, the triple-platinum Riverhead (2002). That made no.1 in the local charts for 70 weeks. Their sophomore was the double-platinum follow-up Out of The Moon (2005). In 2007 the band released their final album, Reporter, and went into a long hiatus. There's no mention of reformation - for now, anyway.

If you follow Kirsten Morrell on socials it seems to bounce around between the UK, Europe and Aotearoa. It's hard to pin her down. “I know, I’ve gone international!”

To some, she’s hard to box down – Is Kirsten Morrell an Opera singer or a pop singer? Why not both?

“I studied Opera in Auckland and shot off to England to try my luck and had a great time. I studied at the Auckland Opera Studio, specifically for that stint in the UK.” Actually, that was 7 years ago, after Goldenhorse wrapped up. “And now, I’ve been here a year and a half, but for some it’s like I just got back.” The studio she tells me is “an outfit that provides the platform for professional opera singers to hopefully catapult into the UK. And, luckily, I did.” No wonder, Auckland Opera Studio is a champion of talent, especially those from less affluent communities, offering singing and performance coaching from some of the world’s most acclaimed teachers including the highly respected Frances Wilson (ONZM).

And that was a completely different career to the pop world.

No, she disagrees.

“It is and isn’t. When I started Goldenhorse with Geoff Maddock, I was already auditioning for New Zealand Opera and singing in their seasons (she was with NZO for two years). I was an opera singer as well as the singer with Goldenhorse.”

“My time over there was completely brilliant, just the most amazing experience, getting together with Kiwis on the ground and my English friends. Taking contract work, in between auditions – I made coffee, worked in publishing, everything. You name it. Because.” she explains about how work for professional Opera singers’ work. ”The seasons and roles for music are very specific and you have to be there on the ground, ready to go if you get in.”

Highlights included “a handful of main scale Opera auditions, and got round two and three, which is pretty amazing given the volume and competition. Then I landed it and got into Crouch End Chorus – the big time!”

Crouch End Festival Chorus (CEFC), for those not in the know, is a highly popular symphonic choir based in north London. They perform traditional choral repertoire, contemporary classical, rock, pop and film music.

Led by David Temple MBE (Musical Director), they’ve appeared at a huge number of popular events such as the BBC Proms concert series. They’ve also featured on many sound tracks including Disney's Prince Caspian, Doctor Who and Prime’s Good Omens.

Their patrons are big hitters including conductor Sir Mark Elder, Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, film music composer Hans Zimmer, rock artists Ray Davies and, believe it or not, Noel Gallagher. They’ve even helped out Noel live and in the studio a few times along with the Choir’s co-founder, John Gregson.

“I was learning from the best, using all my musical abilities. Incredible people. Many people in the choir had recording and conducting careers of their own. Everyone in London is multi-talented and multi-talented to survive. I was doing symphony chorus work. I got to sing backing vocals for Andrea Bocelli and Elton John (we did the soundtrack for his movie Rocketman).For me, musically, it encompassed everything I started and had been part of in Cornwall.”

“If we are going to go back to my roots,” she continues, “I started in County Choirs when I was five years’ old. It was a continuation of that.”

So, always been a through line for her. “Yes, a good word!”

So, given her life and adventures in the UK, what brought her back?

“The war in Ukraine, really. My family just got so worried about me living in a country so next to where a war was starting. A very sudden decision, I gathered up my things and got back.”

A move back to ‘Home’? “Well home is everywhere, I guess.”

Kirsten was born to Tricia Reade in London and was raised in Hampstead until her parents left London to start an organic farm in rural Cornwall, where she spent the remainder of her childhood before moving again, this time to Aotearoa. Her grandparents lived in Taupo. There she went to Selwyn College in Auckland and earned a music scholarship and classical training. At University she did English literature, arts management, and eventually became a qualified yoga teacher, something she still does now.

Moving back, did she still feel connected with Aotearoa. “Yes. I still feel part of the music tapestry of Aotearoa. I remain engaged with politics and current affairs, as I did when I was in London. And I’m aware that the music scene is very vibrant here now. A lot more music being made, than when I was involved with Goldenhorse. Then, it was live-based. We just played around the country for four years’ straight. That was my method, always. When I got out of school I was singing and dancing in 8 shows a week for two years, that kind of thing. Putting together Goldenhorse, performing live on stage was the backbone of it (the band).”

“It’s hard to know, really, with music. Even now, as I’ve joined a new choir in Auckland, it’s quite nebulous, the music scene. It seems to exist mainly online. There’s a lot of meta. Let’s just say that. I’m navigating a meta world.”

“Aotearoa is really mixed up, culturally at the moment, I think. And there’s a huge division opening up at the moment (ideologically). And, as musicians we want to put love express a soothing balm into the world.”

So, when writing the new songs where did the inspiration come from?

“Well, not just being in London. I was inspired by the musicians I worked with and the people in the choir I was in. I got opportunity to meet and work with Alan Gregg, from The Mutton Birds. He was responsible for writing some of the band’s best songs. So, it was a great honour when he asked me to come over and work with him.”

“I’d bumped into Alan in London. And he said to me “Permission to start writing again.” I think he was tired of my rambles about being a pop writer and not actually doing it. And that sparked something and a flood of creativity. I was writing and writing, and that was the start of (what would become her new album, soon to be released) Morrellium. And coming out of Lockdown there was more activity again. And you can’t be in a choir and not tell anyone what you are up to.” And long story short, he was once a conductor, so was able to help with arrangements, especially strings, on her songs.

“I got together with (Tui award winner) Producer and Engineer Clint Murphy (a Kiwi, now based in the Cotswolds), who’s worked with Manic Street Preachers, 50 Cent, Melanie C, Chinaski, Devilskin, OpShop, Ladyhawke, and Kimbra – to name a few. I was lucky to get Ben King guitarist from Goldenhorse) on board again. And wonderful Barkin Sertkaya, a teacher at Auckland University and a fabulous classical guitarist. And also, Stephen Small on keyboards and violinist Adrien De Croy.”

“This was a departure from the indie band approach we had with Goldenhorse (created in bedrooms, self-recorded etc.).It was very much a studio album. It took planning with Clint grabbing opportunities when they arose. We recorded relatively quickly compared to before (she’s referring to the long gestation periods of the Goldenhorse albums).We went into a studio and did it all quickly.”

“Then, suddenly Storm Gabriel happened. So, on the second to last day of recording I was sending everyone home. We were huddled around the radio and computer and the news was coming in. It was an extraordinary time. And in a way, I feel that the storm was part of it. We all looked after each other and made sure we could all get home, over the bridge to a warm bed. It bonded us.”

When talking of her new single, Avignon, Kirsten says that ”I threw a line of a poem into my brain, cogitated on that and came back with that song. I was backpacking around Europe when I was 19 and looked at a lot of art. I was really into art history at school and really got into it. We had an incredible art teacher at Selwyn College. And this song sort of just parked up, drawing inspiration from all that.” And from travel and great gigs.

Oh, yes. “I went to the North Sea Jazz Festival in Amsterdam and saw Bootsie Collins playing with James Brown, Buckshot La Fonque and Winton and Bradford Marsalis. I saw my favourite band at the time Fishbone. We were invited, because we were part of a show in Sydney which was going over to the North Sea Jazz Festival. And being part of that was a fundamental music experience for me. And that experience doesn’t go away. I’ve always wanted to move my music in a sort of ‘groovy’ direction. And that’s where I’ve been heading with this album.”

Her album Ultraviolet was released in 2010, back in her Goldenhorse era. Morrellium, says Kirsten is different. It’s a ‘cognitive collective’, a new element on the periodic table – ha ha – which is where my brain got to coming from Covid, the war in Ukraine, Storm Gabriel. It’s like science is the only thing that’s solid here. Ha ha.”

“There are 10 songs on the album, with some out and some still to be released. The beauty of releasing without plastic things – CDs, vinyl – is that you can keep adding to your album.”

So far she’s released two singles – the fabulous Harry and the slightly Goldenhorse-esque Strawberry Fool which features a very cool AI video made by Kezia Barnett.

Her new song has a French flavour, a song that, she says, gives her a chance to ‘fantasise’ about being a like one of those cool French Mod girl from a 70’s movie (for example Peter Seller’s Pink Panther or even a Bond girl. Avignon, says her publicity, is “Disco with a new twist.” “Ha, ha.” Laughs Kirsten. “My publicist wants me to talk about yoga. Ha ha”.

Kirsten wrote this song during Covid at a time when “it was so tranquil and quiet”, when many of us were sought solace in the simple things like yoga, gardening, meditation.

“That was one of my things that got me quids in London. I had a yoga business, and I taught children and adults yoga at my local town hall. I love it.” Kirsten teaches Iyengar Yoga, a practice of alignment that is focused on longevity. “Actually, this morning, you’ve caught me doing Ardha Chandra Asana (halfmoon pose) and waiting for your call for this interview. So, there you are!”

Kirsten Morrell will release Avignon on October 17. Morrellium is expected in spring/summer.

Photo Credit: Bryn Reade

After 10 years writing and recording with multi-platinum New Zealand band Goldenhorse, singer / songwriter Kirsten Morrell has gone solo with 'Ultraviolet' -- featuring the singles "Friday Boy" and "Cherry Coloured Dreams".

Recorded in London lounges and Auckland studios, The Lab and York St, 'Ultraviolet' is an accomplished yet pleasingly unpredictable blend of melodies and beautiful production.

In a departure from her Goldenhorse days, Kirsten has largely dispensed with a band in the studio preferring the immediacy of working with multi-instrumentalist and producer Jol Mulhullond. Geoff Maddock, her Goldenhorse collaborator, is heard on a range of instruments throughout the recording. These three musicians have created something very special. The 12 songs range from synth-heavy electro-pop to brooding, chugging laments with Kirsten's singular voice tying the whole project together.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Kirsten Morrell

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