NZ Listener's Songs of the Week: New tracks by Nadia Reid, The Beths, Ladyhawke, Georgia Lines and more
Moment By
by Nadia Reid
British-based Reid's recent album Enter Now Brightness indicated a confident shift away from folk into something more complex in emotional depth and arrangements. This magnetic single – from the opening piano chords and the steady build with percussion – confirms her vocal assurance
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NZ Herald
17 hours ago
- NZ Herald
NZ Listener's Songs of the Week: New tracks by Nadia Reid, The Beths, Ladyhawke, Georgia Lines and more
Moment By by Nadia Reid British-based Reid's recent album Enter Now Brightness indicated a confident shift away from folk into something more complex in emotional depth and arrangements. This magnetic single – from the opening piano chords and the steady build with percussion – confirms her vocal assurance
Scoop
19 hours ago
- Scoop
UK Broadside Ballad Singer Jennifer Reid Releases Ballad Of The Gatekeeper LP
27 June 2025 Northern England broadside ballad singer Jennifer Reid has released her fourth album, The Ballad Of The Gatekeeper – a collection of songs that centres voices and stories not often acknowledged within the folk scene. Known for her evocative renditions of 19th-century broadside ballads and industrial folk songs, Reid's latest work weaves together working class narratives and contemporary edge, drawing deeply from the dialect and histories of Victorian and Georgian Lancashire. 'They may say The Ballad Of The Gatekeeper is a scathing attack on all that's right with folk," says Reid. 'But the theme for the first side of this album is, what did they know?!' 'I consulted with people who want to be part of the folk scene but feel they're kept out – those who have stories to tell but don't fit the 'traditional' mould. This album is my response, a rallying call to reclaim folk from the gatekeepers and hand it back to the people.' Recorded at the iconic St Katherine's Dock with support from Pete Townshend (The Who), The Ballad Of The Gatekeeper features a blend of never-before-heard traditional songs and original material. With added percussive accompaniment, layered harmonies and collaboration with singers and sound artists, there are some special contemporary pieces on the album which stem from historic material. Townshend encountered Reid through a Hard Art collective gathering at legendary artist, producer and activist Brian Eno 's London studio. 'Jen spoke about her desire to break down the conservative grip on what we still call 'folk music' in the UK," recalls Townshend."She calls those who cling to these rigid boundaries 'gatekeepers', resistant to change and the evolution of musical storytelling. 'As someone who still enjoys all kinds of folk music, I understood the need to make sure we continue as songwriters to write and sing about our communities and our working lives in new ways. But it wasn't until she began to sing, unaccompanied, her voice filling the room in a Lancashire accent, challenging everything we think we know about what modern folk music should be, that I became a true fan. Gatekeepers? Stand down.' Reid visited Aotearoa for the first time in April 2025, turning the heads of audiences at venues like Audio Foundation and Freida Margolis as much as she did those at trad folk festivals Hamsterfest and Tradfest. She is currently booking a return tour for early-2026 that will this time encompass te waipounamu. As an actor, Reid has portrayed Barb in Shane Meadows ' critically acclaimed period drama The Gallows Pole and performed at Chanel's Metiers d'Art show. She has supported Pulp, John Cooper Clarke and Eliza Carthy. ARTIST BIO Jennifer Reid is a folk musician dedicated to keeping alive the rich heritage of nineteenth-century music. She performs Lancashire dialect and Victorian broadside ballads, carrying on the tradition of using music as a social provocation. As an actress, Jennifer has portrayed Barb in Shane Meadows' critically acclaimed period drama The Gallows Pole and performed at Chanel's Metiers d'Art show. She has supported Pulp, John Cooper Clarke and most recently Eliza Carthy on an 18-date sold out UK tour. With a background in local history, she educates students and communities through live performances, talks and workshops. Jennifer's research has taken her worldwide, exploring connections between past and present. She has performed at the Venice Biennale, on the New York High Line, at Battersea Power Station and at the Liverpool Philharmonic. She will publish a book on her research into Bengali and Lancashire weaving songs in 2025. She collaborates with academic and cultural institutions, from the University of Cambridge to the Science Museum, contributing to stage and media productions. Her work has been cited academically in papers and PhDs. She sits on the executive committee of the Society for the Study of Labour History and is a member of Hard Art, a collective of activists, artists and leaders working for social and political change.
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Queenstown crime drama 'huge hit' overseas
A second series of Queenstown-based TV murder-mystery drama A Remarkable Place to Die is set to be shot in the resort from this November till the end of April. The first series, filmed during the first half of last year, has enjoyed excellent viewer numbers in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Germany, as well as on video-on-demand (VOD). Local-based Screentime NZ CEO Philly de Lacey, whose company co-produced the first four-part series with Germany's Real Film Berlin, says she can't comment at this stage. However, Mountain Scene understands a new five-part series is close to being officially green-lit, providing once again a huge shot in the arm for Queenstown, not only for the spend in the resort for the duration of the shoot but in terms of promoting the destination, and NZ, to an international audience. De Lacey says ratings for the first season, which had a budget of about $15million, exceeded expectations. "In NZ it performed phenomenally well, and then the Australian audience exceeded our expectations, with really strong viewing numbers in prime time." It's subsequently been shown in the US — "we were absolutely thrilled with the audience reception to it" — before debuting last month in Germany, where it's titled Queenstown Murders with the sub-title Drop-Dead Gorgeous. "We've hit a really broad demographic, sort of young and old audiences." In an email last month to various bigwigs, including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, De Lacey relates how A Remarkable Place to Die launched on Germany's ZDF with 2.5 million viewers and a 17.6% channel share, as against an average 15%, in addition to very strong VOD numbers. "It has now been a huge hit in Australia, NZ, the US and Germany, and couldn't be a better calling card/advertisement for NZ, showcasing the stunning scenery of Otago. "In the US, [ selected it in the top five shows to watch on Acorn [in April]." De Lacey tells Scene its success stems from both its genre — "I mean, it's cosy crime, or chocolate box crime" — and having Queenstown as "an absolutely stand-out location". She also reflects on the downstream benefits from last year's shoot, which took just over 70 days. "When you think of all the different sectors film work touches, from construction to medical, to catering, accommodation, choppers, everything, our tentacles spread very wide. "We tried to hire as many people locally as we could but probably about two-thirds [out of about 140 cast and crew] were from out of town, so we're housing people here for six months." De Lacey says locals "just opened their doors to us and helped with props, helped with everything — we felt a lot of love in making the series". That first series also benefited from the producers leasing the former H&J Smith's department store at Frankton's Remarkables Park, which had just become vacant, for wet-weather cover, housing the crew and accommodating four sets, including a police station and a morgue. Since then, Screentime NZ's leased it full-time as Remarkable Studios NZ, for use by any production company. Ahead of A Remarkable Place's second series, Screentime's also shooting there its own cooking competition series, Taste of Art.
