Award winning Kapiti Coast songwriter and musician, Steph Casey, releases her sophomore album, ‘The Seats In My Car’, backed by a stellar cast of New Zealand musicians
With depth, experience, and her guitar in hand, Steph Casey releases her second studio album The Seats In My Car on July 26th.
Arriving six years after her debut album Whisper & Holler, which received glowing international reviews and charted in the top five of the NZIM charts, the stunning new album reveals the departure Casey has made from the classic singer-songwriter style of her debut. Casey will be celebrating the release of her new album with a NZ album release tour from July to December 2019.
“Gorgeous arrangement and tone with golden melodious vocals and heart-warming lyrics.. Her vocal clarity and heartfelt lyrics complement each other flawlessly”. 5 Stars. – music.net.nz (The Seats in My Car review)
“The delicate guitar work and engaging vocal tone mesh beautifully, creating magic.” – INDEPENDENT CLAUSES (Whisper & Holler review)
Although The Seats In My Car sits broadly within the indie-folk/alt-country stable that characterised Casey’s debut offering, the new songs are heavier on the gritty guitars, and the vocal performances are more self-assured. There is a confident, “warts and all” quality to her voice that instils it with authenticity and character. With the shift that has come from solid experience on the live stage and extensive songwriting over the past six years, Casey presents an impressive new album.
The Seats in My Car takes fans on a lush, beautifully produced musical journey, from the first single At a Bar Downtown (released 28 june) where Casey’s voice soars above atmospheric, eerie vocal harmonies in the choruses, grounded by Caroline Easther’s wonderful tom tom drums; to the poignant, gradually building Old Love; to Gathering – a layering of instruments and four-part vocal harmonies culminating in a lush, gravity-defying crescendo; and Sebastian – a crowd favourite at gigs, with Casey and the band joyously embracing the chaos of this noisy guitar-pop number.
On the strength of her debut, Casey was invited to the US to record her sophomore album with producer Jason Rubal (Amanda Palmer, Robert Smith) but chose to record in Wellington with the musicians who have helped contribute to her new sound. She returned to the legendary Surgery Studio (Trinity Roots, Phoenix Foundation) with the award winning Lee Prebble at the control desk.
On The Seats In My Car Casey sings, plays acoustic guitar, and is backed by a stellar line-up of musicians, the core of which comprises the three principal members of indie-pop band Let’s Planet – Caroline Easther (The Chills, The Verlaines, Beat Rhythm Fashion) on drums, Alan Galloway (Let’s Planet, Galloway) on electric guitars and Murray Costello (The Mockers, Sneaky Feelings, the Wooden Box Band) on bass. These highly respected musicians have been playing together for three decades and you can hear the resulting tight, considered arrangements that lay down a solid foundation for Casey’s songs. The minimalist, melodic electric guitar of Alan Galloway, who Casey has been performing her original material with at bars and cafes for the past five years, lends just the right amount of grit to her acoustic guitar, adding a distinctive edge to the tracks. Among the other contributors on the album are Alan Norman (The Warratahs, Rag Poets) on accordion and hammond organ, Wellington singer-songwriter Hanne Jostensen on backing vocals, and Emily Clemmet (The Wooden Box Band, Ska Pai) on trumpet.
Casey has received semi-finalist and commended entry honours in the UK Songwriting Contest, won the People's Choice Award at WELLYFEST, and has a strong international following on soundcloud.com where her songs have over 350,000 plays.
Casey will be taking her extensive live experience and engaging stage presence on the road and will be celebrating the new album with a release show on 26 July followed by a run of intimate shows around the country from July to December, with a two month tour of the US, playing festivals, cafés and music venues, in between.
The release show on July 26th will be held at the iconic St Peters Hall in Paekakariki, where the audience will be treated to Casey performing with the entire band from the studio album. She will then be touring the lower North Island and upper South Island with Alan Galloway on guitars and Tatiana Sogrinata on backing harmonies and keyboards. Opening all the shows will be singersongwriter Annette Esquinet whose captivating solo performances have been wowing audiences throughout the Kapiti and Wellington regions.
‘The Seats in My Car’ NZ Album Release Tour
Lower North Island
26 July, St Peters Hall, Paekakariki
17 August, Lucky Bar + Kitchen, Whanganui,
24 August, The Third Eye, Wellington
Upper North Island
6 December, Le Café, Picton
7 December, Mussel Inn, Takaka
Tickets available at Eventfinda