Rhymes with classical

Abigail Knudson’s self-produced album is out now. Photo: Chad Sharman.

Dunedin musician Abigail Knudson has just released her debut album, the classical hip-pop of Nicotine.

The classically trained choral singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer grew up in a very musical household, experimented early with songwriting in high school, but has really hit her stride recently, after making the decision to start producing her own songs last year.

"It wasn’t really until last year when I decided I should be producing to be self-sufficient," Knudson told me.

"When you’re just writing music, you’re entirely reliant on other people to get out a finished product, and that means that time-lines and everything is incredibly slow, and incredibly difficult. I never really learned how to use (digital audio work station) Logic until I decided I needed to have agency over my own work. I need to be in control. You get a bit over the boys’ club."

Knudson excels at introducing orchestral and choral elements to pop and a production setting, putting her refined, powerful and classically trained voice on top of vast, busily orchestrated cascades and swathes of highly produced sound, thick with weighty hip-hop-inspired beats and highly accomplished and complex instrumental flair.

"When I first started listening to Kanye West ... it gave me chills. Classical music, rhythmically, is very simple. It’s all about how harmony interacts. Hip-hop music is about rhythms. The two are perfect for each other. They’re made for each other."

It’s "classical hip-pop", and its adventurousness and fearless spirit reminds me of Bjork at times, while its dramatic mood recalls the cinematic spectre of Lana Del Rey. Personal favourite Missy opens with a whirring drum skip that Portishead’s Geoff Barrow would appreciate, before slipping into some beautifully cascading old-timey piano that sounds like something Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA would sample, Knudson’s potent vocals sounding off on love and feminism on top of the instrumentation.

BEAT IT

From noon today, the Regent Theatre will open its doors to a 24-hour marathon of Japanese-inspired drumming. The O-Taiko drumming group, with a little help from friends, is raising funds for and awareness of the Dunedin Night Shelter Trust: a vital service, offering care, kindness, and shelter to those citizens of Otepoti who need it most. While the beats won’t stop for 24 hours, there will also be performances from King Leo, Ayumu Kobayashi, Tom Csima, Molly Devine, Matt Langley, the Rare Byrds, and Tahu and the Takahes across the event’s duration. Get along, watch and participate in some incredible drumming and support a vital organisation.

SUNS COME OUT

Auckland indie pop outfit The Ruby Suns are on tour this month, playing their first national shows since 2014.

This truancy is in no small part due to the band’s main mover,Ryan McPhun’s current residency in Norway, but also to a particularly long gestation for what will be the songwriter’s next record, whether under the Ruby Suns moniker or with his new-ish project WILL SLUGGER.

McPhun will be joined by an all-star band of Bevan Smith (Introverted Dancefloor), Alistair Deverick (Boycrush), and Hayden Eastmond-Mein (Lawrence Arabia Band) for the show.

Support comes from Death and the Maiden and Stefanimal.