Kate Kingsmill, Journalist

"I wanted to distil all my jazz stuff and my rock stuff and my stuff with an orchestra into one project that reflects all those projects, but in a new, intimate way."

Drummer Dan Lucchesi is pretty much a genius. He produced the record and also contributes a hefty amount of vocals while drumming.

"We knew it was a highly anticipated record, you know? But I think the thing was to not let that get in our heads and fog that all up. So we made sure that we set ourselves apart."

"We were definitely going for that slick, well-played pop sound. Your recorded stuff shouldn’t be like the live show. If you’re a good live band, the live show should always be better."

"I’ve stayed in bands in the past where we didn’t have management or a good network of people around us and it’s really easy to go nowhere."

The hipsters down the front are dancing but really, the dead snake dream was better.

An utterly impressive performance from another young Kiwi vocalist who has all the right ingredients to end up being a massive star. Catch her while you can.

"It’s the first record we’d ever made in our home space, and the first album we’d ever made by ourselves with no outside engineer or producer, so it felt really good."

Some attention to subtlety and abstraction would have made it a more intriguing play.

"After World War I there was just this huge, not a renaissance but a huge development, in literature, art, engineering, you name it, there was just this explosion and things advanced very rapidly, especially music."

Ryan has a gentle charm, admitting he doesn’t have much to say on stage. His guitar playing is stunning as usual and his voice sounds stronger.