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Album of the Week: Dermot Kennedy – The Weight of the Woods

Dermot Kennedy’s third album is a rootsy affair for the Irish artist. We love his story – picked up a guitar at 10, writing songs at 14 and busking on Grafton Street (Dublin) at a young age. The soaring gospel-tinged opener “The Weight of the Woods (Reprise)” is glorious, and the album explores themes of home, loss, hope, and personal reckoning across tracks like “Honest,” “Funeral,” “Endless,” and “Sycamore.” A grounded and resonant album.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Arlo Parks – Ambiguous Desire

There’s nothing ambiguous about our enjoyment of Arlo Parks’ sometimes lazy grooves. On this album she gets a bit less languid with some nice beats. She told Apple Music “I just wanted to go out and move”. She took a break after her second album (2023’s My Soft Machine) and hit the clubs of New York and Los Angeles (well deserved after working hard since she broke out aged 17). This sense of fun is present on Ambiguous Desire but the album remains true to her distinctive sound as well.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: NEEDTOBREATHE – The Long Surrender

NEEDTOBREATH begin their story back in 2002 in Seneca, South Carolina. Coming from a Christian music background they have managed to cross over to the mainstream, crossing genre such as country-rock, Indie and Americana. The Long Surrender is their tenth studio album, produced by Dave Cobb and features a great selection of songs including collaboration with one of our favourite Americana acts The Red Clay Strays.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Foy Vance – The Wake

We’ve been enjoying Foy Vance’s music since Signs of Life (his previous album) was released in 2021 but his musical career stretches back to the 1990s. This is his seventh album (his first Joy was released in 2007). We could wax eloquent about his wonderful earthy music and the autobiographical elements running through it, but instead we’ll refer you to an excellent article on “The Bluegrass Situation” website.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: The Fray – A Light That Waits

This new album popped up on our “New Music” feed on Apple Music, probably after listening to the advance singles (and playing them on New Zealand Net Radio) but apart from that has been a bit of a ghost. We did come across a review on Sputnik Music which gives a clue why:

A Light That Waits is an outing only for the most diehard of The Fray followers. It’s an even plainer version of what they once were, which is actually an impressively low bar to have to crawl under, and whatever emotional element once existed in their music has been vanquished.

As usual it seems our love of melodic well performed and produced music makes us unfashionable (that common ‘insult’ of radio-friendly we take as a complement!) – oh well. Lets enjoy an album of melodic radio friendly pop for the week, their first album since 2014.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Kingfishr – Halcyon

This album came out in August 2025 but popped into our awareness on the Youtube Music “Heavy Stereo” playlist this week. Superb beautiful Indie Folk with gorgeous harmonies and melodies. The Irish brogue is pretty hard to resist too! Some background from Bandcamp (you’ll have to buy their new album elsewhere):

The kingfisher is native to Ireland’s waterways, remaining sedentary unless food is scarce. Like the kingfisher, each member of the group has moved upstream in search of what they couldn’t find at home.
Kingfishr is an examination of the modern Irish experience, dealing with the love, loss and the struggle to find our place in society.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Mitski – Nothing’s About To Happen To Me

Indie favourite Mitski is back. As usual there is something different. In this case not so much stylistic (unlike her last Country flavoured album) as thematic. This is a concept album about an isolated woman, perhaps seen as mad and influenced by the Shirley Jackson novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Have a listen to the NPR discussion of Mitski and the album:

https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5726289/nx-s1-9667421

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Hemi Hemingway – Wings of Desire

We fell in love with Hemi’s first EP The Lonely Hunter a few years back and he returns with another quality effort. He’s contributed to a track by track description which gives the inside story on this great collection of songs. Kiwi Hemi spent time in London however this album finds him back in New Zealand, reflecting on the end of a relationship, some bad memories and renaissance.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Six60 – Right Here Right Now

Kiwi favourites Six60 are back with another album of great melodic reggae-pop, their fifth. Recorded live in single takes over a period of three days the album shows the band’s technical mastery of this music. Lead singer Matiu Walters told music.nz “We are at the top of our game, and I feel like I was born to sing these songs!”.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.

Album of the Week: Michael Marcagi – Under The Streetlights

Ohio-born Michael Marcagi broke through in 2024 with the viral hit “Scared To Start” off EP American Romance. His first album has just been released – a nice collection of contemporary singer-songwriter material (he describes his music as granola folk!).

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our irregularly updated #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm. Listen in @tunein at http://tun.in/sfAtE or on the web player.