Four years after an acclaimed and awarded debut, Auckland pop singer-songwriter MAALA is finally preparing to release his sophomore album. He spoke to Matthew McAuley about how he’s been passing the time. When Evan Sinton began releasing music as MAALA, things progressed quickly. Arriving in 2015 with an era-typical air of mystery, his self-titled EP … Read more
The Spinoff presents the exclusive premiere of MAALA’s new music video, the Connor Pritchard-directed ‘Fire Burning’. Evan ‘MAALA’ Sinton says: I released Composure, my first album, in 2016 and then I did these two quite random singles – ‘In My Head’ and ‘Crazy’ – in 2017. Those songs were quite a weird tangent, which I … Read more
After taking over Joel Little’s Auckland recording studio, Josh Fountain has become one of the most in-demand producers in New Zealand pop music. Hussein Moses goes behind the scenes to find out how he got here and where he’s going next. Peek inside Golden Age Studios, just down the road from St Lukes mall in … Read more
The Spinoff vs Spotify. Narrative vs Data. Heart vs Head. Who can predict more winners of tonight’s New Zealand Music Awards – The Spinoff’s Henry Oliver or Spotify’s team of (probably) Stanford-educated computer-geniuses? A year ago, I proclaimed myself New Zealand music’s Nate Silver and made (not) data-driven predictions about the outcomes of the 2016 … Read more
In an attempt to reclaim their position atop the music industry, MTV are going back to basics and reincarnating their most iconic series. Don Rowe attends the first ever MTV Unplugged in New Zealand. Back in a time when the M in MTV stood for music and not ‘mediocre reality shows for munters’, the channel was … Read more
Auckland’s fashion festival for the people kicks off today and runs until Saturday at venues around the city. Brian Ng has the lowdown. Fashion in the City ( Wednesday 29 March – Saturday 1 April) is sprawling around town this year: from a MAALA concert in Topshop to through a new look at fashion history … Read more
‘Best Songs Ever’ features various contributors to The Spinoff Music assessing recent songs and singles. SONG OF THE WEEK Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos – ‘Slide’ This is everything internet-buzz pop music is right now, rolled into a more radio-friendly format. Sure, you may love Blonde and Culture, but you’re not going to … Read more
Next month, Spark presents Seamless, an all ages show at Auckland’s Tuning Fork. Henry Oliver talked to headliner, and winner of Best Male Solo Artist at last year’s VNZMAs, MAALA. The Spinoff: So you released an album last year, have just finished a run of festivals and have a new single out. What are you up to … Read more