22 year old enigma Kuren has returned with a matured message in his sophomore album HOLY WAVE.

Kuren kicked off a new decade with a re-invented sound. Over eight tracks HOLY WAVE encompasses genre bending soundscapes mixed with intricate lyricism.

“I’ve been making beats for 10 years now. I fell in love with lyricism and saw it as another challenge to further hone my craft. So I started spending more time with the pen” explains Kuren.

Stream HOLY WAVE on Spotify now.

The APRA Music Awards were held on Monday night via a livestream.

We would like to congratulate Leigh Ryan on being recognised for his work on Hilltop Hoods’ ‘Leave Me Lonely’, which took out Most Performed Urban Work.

Concord writer Mark Ronson also worked on ‘Shallow’ by Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, which won the Most Performed International Work. Ronson was also nominated in this category for his track ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’.

Fellow Native Tongue writer Ben Stewart was nominated for Most Performed Rock Work for ‘Jellyfish’ by Slowly Slowly.

Hats off to all the winners on the night.

The fifth studio album from LA-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Hanni El Khatib has just dropped.

Three years since his last release, FLIGHT was mostly written after a life-changing car accident that shifted his perspective dramatically.

This record is the most complete embodiment of who he is as an artist.
It is garage rock, it is hip-hop, it is soul, it is blues, it is psychedelic.

Stream FLIGHT on Spotify here.

Native Tongue have a number of writers up for NZ Country Music Awards.

Up for Recorded Music NZ Te Kaipuoro Tuawhenua Toa | Best Country Music Artist are our very own Delaney Davidson & Barry Saunders for their record ‘Word Gets Around’.

While, Tami Neilson has picked up two nominations for APRA AMCOS’ Best Country Music Song. Her songs ‘Any Fool With A Heart’ and ‘Hey Bus Driver’ have been recognised.

The winners will be announced live on Radio New Zealand’s Music 101 on Saturday 30 May.

Native Tongue would like to congratulate Troy Kingi on taking out the 2020 Taite Music Prize.

The awards were held on Tuesday 5th May via a Facebook and YouTube live stream. It was a unique and entertaining awards ceremony, with the current situation preventing the awards to go ahead as usual.

Native Tongue was proud to be one of the sponsors of the event this year.

Troy Kingi was joined on the shortlist by fellow Native Tongue writers JessB and Aldous Harding.

You can stream the full awards here.