There are times when one hears a voice and it feels as if you are being held warm and safe, and that is definitely the case here with Whero, who recently released her debut single. If she has not recorded under this name before, I am sure she must have recorded with others, while this has all the hallmarks of someone who has undertaken a lot of live work.
I see she has sung with Troy Kingi in the past, and given he has the choice of who to work with that says a great deal. This is soul, and although it contains elements of other genres such as reggae and R&B, this is classic soul that could have been released any time within the last 30 years. The only reason I won’t place this against the classics of the Sixties and Seventies is the arrangement (and especially the bass) feels just that more modern.
This is not the famous Commodores song, but an original which was co-written with Kyla Greening and Sarai Kennerley, and with some wonderful electric piano and vocal harmonies, it always puts Whero front and centre. I can imagine this being a slow dance number at the end of the night, when there are only couples on the floor, moving in slow motion. This is quite some debut, and one can only wonder what is next.
About the author Kev Rowland
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From 1990 – 2006 I ran Feedback fanzine in the UK, writing about bands that were rarely covered in the mainstream press, many of whom were in the underground scene. I built close ties with many British Progressive groups in particular, including writing the newsletter for Freewill, getting gigs for Credo and writing the introduction to Galahad’s OCMDII compilation. I reviewed literally thousands of cassettes and then CDs from bands from throughout the world, and was lucky enough to interview many of them. During this period I also contributed to the French progzine Acid Dragon, wrote for the music newspaper Rock ‘n’ Reel and was also involved with the Ghostland website. In 2006 I moved to NZ, and stopped running Feedback (which was then renamed Amplified after I left, at my request) having produced over 80 editions with more than 11,000 pages of print and heaven knows how many reviews
More by Kev Rowland
Gig Review: Crushfest @ The Tuning Fork, Auckland – 07/07/2023
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Single Review: Love and War
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Single Review: All This Time
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Single Review: Sons of Savages
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Gig Review: Stray Dogs @ AUX, Auckland – 26/05/2023
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Gig Review: Turkey The Bird @ The Ministry of Folk, Auckland – 27/05/2023
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Single Review: Beautiful Creature
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Gig Review: Emily Rice @ Your Local Coffee Roasters, Pukekohe – 24/05/2023
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EP Review: Bridge City Crew
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Single Review: Your Heart of Gold
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Single Review: The Strangest Dream
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Single Review: No Funeral Blues
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