PHOEBE RINGS – Aseurai – LP – ‘Milky Way’ Clear Vinyl

Description

LP – Limited Edition ‘Milky Way’ Clear Vinyl.

Phoebe Rings shimmers into orbit with their debut LP, Aseurai. The upcoming record, out June 6th, 2025 on Carpark Records, adds disco and city-pop influences while staying true to their dream-pop roots. While Phoebe Rings was originally a solo project of Chois, Aseurai marks a shift with contributing songwriting credits from the whole band. Across ten songs, Phoebe Rings storytelling ranges from tongue-in-cheek musings on gentrification to tender autobiographical memories.

Aseurai means around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away, Choi says. Its a poetic expression. You wouldnt say it in normal conversation, but I like that. If the EP was spacey, then Aseurai settles on earth, rooted in tangible moments. Without getting too gloomy, its a weird world out there. A lot has changed in the world since the EP came out, says Kavanagh-Vincent on this transformation. The album delves into hope and longing across all possibilities, and this exploration of holding on and letting go is organically threaded throughout.

(May the falling light of faraway stars) / (Reach your fingertips and let you breathe), Choi sings in the title track Aseurai. Imagined as a breezy track inspired by a 90s Korean pop band, Choi discovered, when fleshing out the lyrics, that it was about yearning for people she couldnt see anymore. In the old-school disco track, Get Up, Locke addresses struggles with mental health in a Matrix-inspired driven mantra: Just get up / Just get up. The groove persists with Fading Star, a quirky ballad filled with steely jazz/rock guitar solos dedicated to a suburban aging musician. Kavanagh-Vincents lead single Drifting is an unrequited celestial love song with bouncing bass and playful synths.

The band wrote, produced, and engineered the album across studios and band members homes in 2023/2024 in Tmaki Makaurau (Auckland). It features mixing/mix production by local legend Jeremy Toy (Bic Runga, Aaradnha, Princess Chelsea) and mastering by Kelly Hibbert. With Aseurai, Phoebe Rings mark out a brilliant new constellation in their sky, bringing their individual compositions to the fore whilst seamlessly threading them into one celestial body.

Tracklist:

1. Aseurai
2. Not A Necessity
3. Mandarin Tree
4. Get Up
5. Playground Song
6. Fading Star
7. Static
8. Drifting
9. Blue Butterfly
10. Goodnight

Produced by Phoebe Rings
Mastered by Kelly Hibbert at Almachrome
Mixed by Jeremy Toy
Keys and Vocals: Crystal Choi
Electric Guitar and Bvs: Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent
Bass: Ben Locke
Drums and Bvs: Alex Freer
Cello: Kathleen Tomacruz
Violin: Charmin Keay