Your first encounter with Queen Neptune will always be memorable. A polite, older man who could joke about his massive leather briefcase, Karl was the perfect hotel lift companion when we met on Queen Street. A short while later, stumbling into the steaming Whammy Backroom I see Karl and Caoimhe (the other half of Queen Neptune) playing to a pulsing electro-pop audience half-drunk half-soaked in craft beer. It was mesmerising, albeit slightly disgusting.

Queen Neptune continue to provide an alternative to the Ariana Grande’s or J-Bieb’s of this world. Their songs are long, hypnotic and entrancing. But they’re listenable – it’s not café music. Their latest single Edge of the Programmed World is much darker than previous releases (Form Follows Function). In the past couple of years, Queen Neptune has become a much stronger, more electronic act, with a heavy goth-pop sound.

Edge of the Programmed World takes a strong beat and some Madonna-esque lyrics to the next level. There’s a Frankenstein electro-pop vibe here with that twinkling organ, as if you’re dancing through your favourite 90's movies in a black lacy outfit for the night. But this groovy track is also socially aware or enforcing the idea that we’re happily unaware. Who should be riding the wave of ‘the data baby’? As a member of Wellington’s SMART City, I understand what it means to be under constant surveillance – lunchtime walks up Cuba Street will never be casual. But life goes on regardless of cameras and microphones, and people love to walk and shop – Cuba Street is still in action! As Edge of the Programmed World continues, almost stumbling on the words, ‘I thought… But I didn’t…’ – sometimes it’s better not to notice.

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  L.A.B.
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• 1
  APT.
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• 2
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• 3
  BIRDS OF A FEATHER
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• 4
  TASTE
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• 5
  I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
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• 6
  ESPRESSO
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• 7
  SAILOR SONG
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• 8
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  A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
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• 10
  GOOD LUCK, BABE!
  Chappell Roan

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