Bic Runga Releases First Album of All New Material in 15 Years
Bic Runga Releases First Album of All New Material in 15 Years
February 13th, 2026
Today Bic Runga releases her sixth studio album, Red Sunset, marking her first collection of all-new material in 15 years.
Recorded in Paris during the winter of 2025, Red Sunset is Bic’s first album of original songs since 2011’s Belle. Co-produced by Bic Runga and Kody Nielson, the record captures a reflective, quietly expansive chapter in the career of one of Aotearoa’s most enduring songwriters.
“After such a long time between albums, I didn’t want to rush this one,” says Bic. “These songs came together slowly, in a very particular place and time, and that space really shaped how the record sounds and feels.”
The album is anchored by its title track, ‘Red Sunset’, a torch song that explores longing and emotional distance, alongside previously released singles ‘It’s Like Summertime’ and ‘Paris in the Rain’. Written on the final night of a winter stay in Paris, Paris in the Rain was inspired by torrential rain falling over the Louvre and recorded on an historic 1807 French Pleyel piano.
“There’s something about being away from home that sharpens your perspective,” Bic says. “Paris gave me the quiet and the contrast I needed to write honestly.”
Born in Christchurch to a Chinese Malaysian mother and a Māori father, Bic first emerged in the late 1990s with her debut album Drive, which went multi-platinum and helped define a generation of New Zealand pop songwriting. Albums including Beautiful Collision, Birds and Belle cemented her reputation for clarity, restraint and emotional precision.
“A lot has changed in my life since my last album,” she says. “But the core of why I make music hasn’t. Red Sunset feels like a continuation rather than a reinvention.”
Red Sunset is released via digital on Friday 13 February and on Vinyl and CD Friday 6 March.
Bic Runga will tour Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia in 2026, performing songs from Red Sunset alongside material from across her catalogue, funded through NZ On Air and supported by the NZ Music Commission.
BIC RUNGA RED SUNSET ALBUM TOUR AOTEAROA NZ & AUSTRALIA 2026
PLUS GUESTS SILICON
Presented by Live Nation
BLACK BARN, HAWKES BAY
SATURDAY 7 MARCH
WAIKATO REGIONAL THEATRE, HAMILTON
SATURDAY 21 MARCH
NZICC THEATRE, AUCKLAND
FRIDAY 27 MARCH
ISAAC THEATRE ROYAL, CHRISTCHURCH
SUNDAY 29 MARCH
MICHAEL FOWLER CENTRE, WELLINGTON WITH NZSO*
THURSDAY 2 APRIL
*SILICON NOT APPEARING
NORTHCOTE THEATRE, MELBOURNE
THURSDAY 9 APRIL
PRINCESS THEATRE, BRISBANE
SATURDAY 11 APRIL
CITY RECITAL HALL, SYDNEY
SUNDAY 12 APRIL
CANBERRA THEATRE, CANBERRA
TUESDAY 14 APRIL
FREO.SOCIAL, FREMANTLE
THURSDAY 16 APRIL
Tickets and further information at livenation.co.nz.
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Photo Credit: Tom Grut