Kiwi Brooke Fraser unleashes new sound
The world of music has become a lot smaller since Kiwi singer Brooke Fraser first came on the scene 11 years ago.
While in Sydney promoting her first single in four years, Kings and Queens - and before her fourth album is released in November - Fraser happily lists off the other New Zealand musicians who are now making waves globally.
"The great thing about New Zealand and New Zealand music is it's travelling so I haven't had to go back to New Zealand to be exposed to Lorde, or Kimbra or Broods, it's just getting out there," the LA-based singer/songwriter told AAP.
"The same cultural isolation that may have existed ten years ago just isn't a factor now, which is really exciting."
While it may seem the New Zealand music scene has undergone a rebirth, Fraser says the talent was always there.
"I think that New Zealand has been a culture that really fosters innovation and creativity, and I just think that the platforms for people now to create that are more accessible," she says.
"The same cultural isolation that may have existed 10 years ago just isn't a factor now, which is really exciting."
But the reasons behind this accessibility to music - the internet, music sharing etc - give the singer pause for thought.
Fraser has a social media presence and likes to engage with her fans, but is critical of the superficial connections people make online. No more so than on her "taster" song, Psychosocial.
It's not an official single, but what the singer describes as a gift for the people who have been waiting for her music for four years.
"It's really about our relationships with people that we don't know via social media," she says.
With lyrics such as "You are my victim, you are my muse ... Give me all access give me what I want" it sounds darker than Fraser explains it to be.
The whole track was released on Fraser's SoundCloud account as a free stream and Fraser says it's been an artistic endeavour.
She was even hoping it would generate comments on social media to round out the enterprise, and even expected more of them to be negative.
"The engagement on social media was really enjoyable and very satisfying as an artist because I suppose that was the next level of completion for that piece of art," she says.
"The very kind of consumption of it (Psychosocial) and the subsequent reaction becomes a part of the artwork itself. It proves the very premise of the song," she says.
She was right to be cautious as she has changed her musical style - moving from a mostly acoustic sound and incorporating some electronic elements.
As a popular artist, she knows this change could annoy some of her diehard fans.
"Some people were quite devastated and would say,'why have you done this?' but then everything in between was positive," she says.
