14 October 2022 - 0 Comments

Today, New Zealand singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Amelia Murray, the artist behind Fazerdaze, releases her first project in over five years - the powerful and cathartic EP Break! - out now via section1. Taking stock at an emotional bottom, with her new release Fazerdaze crafts an empowering portrait of surrender and personal reclamation.

Featuring the 90’s indebted single Come Apart and the previously released title track Break!, the EP showcases three brand new songs from the burgeoning artist. You can now listen to the gentle, fluttering Winter, Overthink It - a grunge-inflected mantra for those prone to a bout of the brain worms, and the focus track Thick of the Honey, which traverses psych territory. The EP is a vital release for Amelia, who wrote it whilst on a journey of rediscovery as both musician and human.

In Amelia’s words, "Because I was so private about the pain I was experiencing I called the EP Break! to reflect the way that I got myself out of the pain; by breaking, shouting for help, drawing a line and telling people around me that I’d had enough. It was an ugly but transformative time, and I made massive shifts forward in my life when I finally allowed myself to come undone. In this space of brokenness, I found power, freedom, a blank canvas. Break! is ultimately about surrender and acceptance of ugly truths."

Fazerdaze’s debut LP, 2017’s Morningside, launched Amelia onto the global stage with rave reviews from publications like Pitchfork and Mojo and tours to the other side of the world from her previous home base of Auckland. But the wheels were coming off behind the scenes. A combination of unhealthy personal relationships, feelings of unworthiness regarding her burgeoning success and general mental exhaustion soon began to manifest in her musical output; for years, Amelia found she couldn’t finish a single song. That is until she relinquished resilience as a badge of honour and let herself crack open.

Break! was completed during a three-month-long lockdown in NZ while Amelia was living in solitude for the first time and directly in the aftermath of a nine-year-long relationship.

Stream/Purchase Break! in full here.

Two Fazerdaze Break! EP release shows have been announced; San Fran, Wellington 25th November and The Hollywood Avondale, Auckland 26th November.

Tickets on sale now from undertheradar.co.nz

Both shows will be Fazerdaze’s anticipated return to the stage and her first live performances in Aotearoa since January 2020. Both shows will be supported by US-based carwash and rising NZ-Korean musician hanbee.

Photo Credit: Joey Clough

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