16 November 2022 - 0 Comments

New Zealand singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Amelia Murray, the artist behind Fazerdaze, has today released the official video for Winter - a soft, melodic and beat-laden track from her recent EP Break!, which is out now on section1. The video, which features a contemplative Amelia under an umbrella from daylight into nightfall, was shot in Christchurch, NZ, by director Joey Clough. Watch it here.

Speaking about the meaning behind the song and making the video, Amelia explains, "Winter is a song about hope and disappointment. It’s about striving to see the best in someone, and choosing to believe someone’s words over their actions. This song makes me think of what Maya Angelou said; “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time”. This is something I have had to learn the hard way repeatedly, and these lyrics show me going through that lesson.

My vision for this video was to have a girl in a bright coloured rain jacket on a grey winter’s day. I wanted the brightness of her jacket to symbolise the hope she is holding onto within a grey, murky situation. When I told Joey (the director) this vision, we were out the door in ten minutes to shoot this. We did zero planning, which worked well for me as I wasn’t able to overthink the performance."

With the release of her powerful and cathartic EP Break!, Fazerdaze put out her first body of music in over five years. Taking stock at an emotional bottom, with her new release Fazerdaze crafts an empowering portrait of surrender and personal reclamation.

Alongside Winter, the EP features the 90’s indebted single Come Apart, title track Break!, Overthink It - a grunge-inflected mantra for those prone to a bout of the brain worms, and ‘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 Tāmaki Makaurau/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 honor 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 Break! in full here

Stay tuned for more to come from Fazerdaze in the coming months.

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

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.

Tickets on sale now from undertheradar.co.nz

Fazerdaze performs Laneway Monday, 30th January, 2023 now at Western Springs - Auckland.

Fazerdaze has also been announced as support to Lorde for her 2023 New Zealand tour. She’ll be taking to the stage on the following dates:

Tuesday, 21st February - Days Bay, Wellington
Wednesday 22nd February - Days Bay, Wellington
Monday 27th February - Neuedorf, Upper Moutere
Wednesday 1st March - Black Barn, Havelock North
Thursday 2nd March - Black Barn, Havelock North
Saturday 4th March - OuterFields, Auckland

Photo Credit: Joey Clough

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