Music Industry News

Aotearoa’s beloved and platinum-selling Avalanche City (AKA Dave Baxter) has today released an introspective new single ‘Keep That Love’ – his first in five years.

A delicate acoustic guitar creates the bed for a gently expanding soundscape; layers of backing vocals, gentle synths and atmospheric guitars working together to evoke a sense of poignant reflection and hope.

“‘Keep That Love’ is really just an encouragement to keep looking for love and beauty, kindness and compassion,” says Dave. “It acknowledges some of life’s deep sadness, but also the hopefulness and beauty of the world. It’s where I end up spending most of my time, for better or worse.”

Written and recorded by Dave on his guacamole farm, the song was then mastered by Chris Chetland. With its beginnings written at the remote beach of Pourerere in the Hawke’s Bay (“the kind that goes on for miles and everyone drives four wheel drives and quad bikes on”), ‘Keep That Love’ started out being a lot more depressing than where it ended up.

“It’s funny, because if people know me in NZ, it’s for writing ‘Love Love Love’ – which is obviously very happy and uplifting, but that song is actually a bit of an outlier for me,” explains Dave. “I think the majority of the songs I write are quite sad. But I’ve reached this point – maybe it’s an age thing – where I’ve been thinking about what I want to put out into the world, like what do I want my contribution to be?”

“I discovered that I wanted to encourage people; to try to write something that sort of acknowledges sadness but moves on from there. I’m not saying I’ll make every song like that, but it was sort of how I was feeling at the time. So the song changed tack completely and instead of this dark feeling that was over the whole thing, it changed to have this thread of positivity that was kind of woven through it all.”

A platinum-selling artist who has supported international acts such as The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks), Fun, The Paper Kites and toured the world, Avalanche City burst onto the scene in 2011 with the breakout hit song ‘Love Love Love’. It established Dave as one of the country’s most talented songwriters – winning the prestigious Silver Scroll in 2011 – and preceded the release of OUR NEW LIFE ABOVE THE GROUND, which drew praise from critics and fans alike.

The lead single ‘Inside Out’ from WE ARE FOR THE WILD PLACES was certified Platinum in New Zealand, achieving the #1 position at radio in NZ for five consecutive weeks, with the video winning Best Music Video at the 2016 NZ Music Awards. The single also reached #1 on the Official Top 40 NZ Singles Chart. In 2019 Avalanche City returned with his latest album, MY BABYLON.

Today’s release gives an exciting glimpse of what’s to come from Avalanche City, so stay tuned for more from this exceptional singer and songwriter.

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