Music Industry News

Today, Casual Healing (AKA Nikau Te Huki) releases the fourth single ‘Up & Down‘ from his debut album, DRIFTWOOD.

Nikau Te Huki fondly refers to ‘Up and Down’ as his “golden child”, with an upbeat, melancholic anthem taking us through the highs and lows of the human experience. In this track, Casual Healing shares a “story of life” to uplift, inspire and call out those elements of life that we all battle with, referencing childhood simplicity and freedom. Casual Healing shares a flawless and robust message, reminding humanity that hitting rock bottom and reaching new heights are all part of our emotional holistic pilgrimage.

This song’s roots, rock, and reggae fusion instantly earns it the status of a classic; with its creamy chorus-drenched guitar and punchy-crunchy tape-sounding drums, ‘Up and Down’ has Casual Healing’s signature production style written all over it. The sound of Casual Healing is impeccably paired with Te Huki’s boyish charisma and endowed with the power and sense of meaningful dialogue that can only originate from a seasoned mind. For Te Huki, the tidings of life become blends of seasonal change through those wavering intervals of observation and life tuition, emerging sensitively through his lyrics and sound.

Brilliantly captured by Mason Rudd, Kerry Pulham, and Francesca Sewell, the accompanying music video walks us through ‘up and down’ concepts in a retro broadcast style woven with delicious contrasting visuals.

The video encapsulates that sense of winning and losing and the holistic lessons we learn whilst pulling ourselves back out of the doldrums. These positive messages hit those nerves of reality when adversity leaves us flapping around like a fish out of water. Rudds’ team captures vibes of high and low tides, representing the fluctuations of life through insightful winter-summer variance. Te Huki is a natural storyteller who shares his interpretation of life through an authentic and personal lens.

Casual Healing believes in creating a “golden-era sound” as part of his mission and journey to heal generations through musical kōrero. Te Huki frames this crazy world in a simple message of hope and desire to pick ourselves up and grow a sense of knowing that life will always fluctuate. The waiata of Casual Healing urges life lessons of aroha, peace and harmony through powerful lyrical scribe woven into smooth reggae soul rhythm.

In April 2024, Casual Healing will release his debut album DRIFTWOOD. This represents four years of Nikau’s most personal and intimate recordings compiled into a collection of Soul, Folk, Hip-Hop, Dub, Trap, R&B and Marae-style tracks. In 2023, Casual Healing released ‘Mauri Tau‘ in October, initiating the drip-feed release for DRIFTWOOD with ‘Hori House‘ following in December, and most recently, ‘Chasing Rainbows‘. These tracks have achieved notable success, securing positions on the NZ Official Hot Singles chart and garnering substantial airplay on radio and various Spotify editorial playlists, including Fresh Finds AU/NZ, Waiata Reo Māori, Dinner Mood, R&B Feels, and Apple Music’s New Music Daily, Late Night Menu, ALT-R&B, R&B Now, Glow and The Sound.

On behalf of Casual Healing, Nikau Te Huki and the C*H*u*R whanau, we thank you for tuning in and supporting this local independent artist. We look forward to hearing these sounds resonate through the streets of Aotearoa and beyond. CHUR.

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Photo credit: Francesca Sewell