Indie Folk Artist Sahara Shares Haunting Debut After Winning 1st Place in the Solo/Duo Category of Smokefreerockquest 2025
Indie Folk Artist Sahara Shares Haunting Debut After Winning 1st Place in the Solo/Duo Category of Smokefreerockquest 2025
July 14th, 2026
Following her 2025 Smokefreerockquest Solo/Duo win, alternative folk artist Sahara is thrilled to release her haunting debut single ‘Turcot’ today.
The release is accompanied by a music video arriving Friday 17 July, created as part of her Rockquest prize with support from NZ On Air.
Sahara’s music blends delicate acoustic textures with raw emotional honesty, drawing inspiration from folk traditions and the stripped-back grit of acoustic grunge.
Originally from Waikato and now based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), Sahara’s songwriting is fragile, intimate and intensely evocative.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Noema Te Hau III at BIG FAN, ‘Turcot’ explores the effects of power, control and mental health. Sahara explains:
“Turcot is about a fear of the dark, and all things within it. The “beast” in the song is a metaphor for the people in our lives who threaten and hold power over us.”
Directed and edited by Ethan Alderson-Hughes, the ‘Turcot’ music video places us in a dreamlike and gothic atmosphere. Throughout, we are haunted by a presence taking the form of a pair of hands, controlling and threatening Sahara.
The music video reflects the eerie nature of the lyrics – exploring feelings, thoughts and people that we can’t escape from, despite our immense hatred towards them;
This thing won’t go away
Breathing, feeding off my hate
I can’t hold it back tonight
All my wrath and all my might
Sahara is currently studying music at Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka.
Check out all things Sahara below: