New Zealand dream pop band Phoebe Rings have announced the release of their debut album, Aseurai, on June 6 via Carpark. Their underrated (and overlooked, in my opinion) 2024 self-titled EP gave us hope that their hazy jangle concoctions would find fuller resolution at some point in the future — and now it looks like we’ll get it sooner than expected.
But on Aseurai, they’re painting with a broader sonic palette, bringing in elements of jazz, disco, and Korean city pop into their gauzy melodies and woozy rhythms. Originally a solo project of jazz-school-trained pianist and songwriter Crystal Choi, the band’s identity was further refined when guitarist-synthesist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, bassist Benjamin Locke, and drummer-producer Alex Freer joined.
“Aseurai means around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away,” Choi explains. “It’s a poetic expression. You wouldn’t say it in normal conversation, but I like that.”
The band has shared two singles, “Drifting” and “Aseurai”, and they both highlight the breezier direction the band has taken, offering spacey electronics and groovy pop contours in service to their translucent aesthetic. The songs are tender and welcoming and cosmic in their execution, twin stars orbiting one another in a vast region of space.
Listen to the songs below.
Aseurai:
1. Aseurai
2. Not A Necessity
3. Mandarin Tree
4. Get Up
5. Playground Song
6. Fading Star
7. Static
8. Drifting
9. Blue Butterfly
10. Good Night
Aseurai is due out June 6 on Carpark. You can pre-order it here. Follow the band on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
