Dudley Benson Announces ‘Zealandia’ Release Details, Premieres Music Video

Avant-pop musician Dudley Benson has revealed that his long-awaited third album, Zealandia, will be released on Friday 10th August.

His first album of new material since the Taite Prize nominated Forest (2010), Benson describes Zealandia as “a love album to our drowned continent, and a chance to explore our identity through twelve alternatives to the national anthem.”

Zealandia took eight years to produce, and features a meticulously arranged tapestry of over 160 contributors, including the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Youth Choir, and beats made with GNS Science geologists from rocks and minerals within the Zealandia continent.

“This album is a statement about the crossover between nature and politics,” says Dudley. “So there’s a song about how our continent formed over millions of years, another about decolonisation, and another about falling in love with Opo the dolphin.”

Today the 34-year old premieres his self-directed music video of the album’s title track, performed in New Zealand Sign Language, via The Spinoff.

Zealandia will be released on limited edition CD, double vinyl and digitally. Each physical copy of the album is accompanied by the Zealandia newspaper: a full colour 24-page tabloid-size newspaper collecting the research, inspiration and creative processes around the album.

Bio: Dudley Benson is a critically acclaimed and award-winning composer, performer and producer. Based in Dunedin, his work is known for its innovation and genre-defying ambition, blending forms of chamber pop and electronic production. Since 2006 Dudley has released two albums, presented grand-scale tours in cathedrals and marae, and has collaborated with renowned international artists including Vashti Bunyan and Matmos. Dudley was nominated for the 2011 Taite Music Prize and won a 2014 New Generation Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.