Aseurai by Phoebe Rings

The Feature Album this week on 2SER is Aesurai, the debut record form Auckland-based four-piece Phoebe Rings.

What do you do when Phoebe Rings? You answer, then you listen.

If you tune into 2ser throughout this week and the weeks following, there’s a strong chance this will happen. Fear not, however, as you’ll likely be met with a track from Aesurai, the band’s debut album, a strong contender for the most blissed out record of the year.

Though Phoebe Rings began as the solo project of frontwoman and multi-instrumentalist Crystal Choi, the band has developed an all-star lineup of some of New Zealand’s best folk, pop and rock bands. Bands such as Tiny Ruins, AC Freazy, Princess Chelsea, Fazerdaze and Lucky Boy all populate the resumes of Phoebe Rings’ 4-person lineup.

While the bands lineup has expanded in recent years, Aesurai is still unquestionably a vessel for Choi’s lyricism. The title track (and opener) is sung entirely in Korean and was, by Choi’s admission, written after she listening to ‘샴푸의 요정 [Fairy of Shampoo]’ by Korean city pop band Light and Salt. Having listened to that track, as well other tracks cited by Choi, it’s clear that her musical upbringing was a primary influence in the making of Aesurai. Choi further cites a wide range of musical and artistic influences in the making of this album, including Studio Ghibli films, video game soundtracks, Bossa Nova and 90’s Korean ballads generally.

Aesurai is out now on Carpark Records.