Music Industry News

Te Whanganui-a-Tara crooked alt-rock four-piece Menzies return with ‘Appy’, a shimmering new single and music video, and their first release since the 2024 EP Spaghetti Land.

Soaked in late-summer reverb, burgeoning romance, and backyard nostalgia, ‘Appy’ captures the sentimental warmth of the Aotearoa barbeque; ice-cold ginger beer, eyes across the room, and a tray of sausage rolls for Ruff Ruff the dog.

Reverb-soaked guitars from Samuel Scully and Chris Brown wrap around a sublime chorus featuring guest backing vocals from Tessa Dillon (Mystery Waitress, Flying Nun) and Doug Kelly (Girlboss). The song culminates in a choir of friends and whānau of the band singing the gentle refrain: “holding my cold hand, even though yours is warm.”

The accompanying music video, shot and directed by Michael Madden, explores the emotional history of Brown’s family home through the generations, with Brown’s parents meeting as flatmates in their 20s, later buying the house, having and raising kids there, and still living there today. Blending VHS footage of childhood summers; chasing butterflies, fairy bread, learning to ride a bike, with a present-day lively BBQ filmed on a roaming trike, the video traces the bittersweet shift between memory and the moment. Layered throughout the track are sonic-snippets of summers gone by: tūī bird-song, kids’ laughter, dogs barking. Combined, they form a portrait of joy and melancholy, a reminder that every long afternoon eventually draws to a close.

“It feels really special to have the voices of so many loved ones singing on this song. I’m so grateful for the aroha everyone has put into it.” – Brown

‘Appy’ was recorded and mixed by James Goldsmith at The Surgery and mastered by Tūī Award-winning Vivek Gabriel (Gabriel Audio).

Check out all things Menzies below:
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Photo credit: R W Cain