Phoebe Rings - Aseurai *Pre-Order

Release Date Friday 9th May 2025
All pre-orders will be dispatched/made ready for collection on that day.

Phoebe Rings is a four-piece dream-pop band from Auckland, New Zealand led by songwriter Crystal Choi, featuring
members of other notable NZ projects such as Tiny Ruins, AC Freazy, Princess Chelsea, Fazerdaze, and Lucky Boy.
RIYL: Stereolab, The Marias, Men I Trust, Crumb, Alice Phoebe Lou.

Phoebe Rings shimmers into orbit with their debut LP, Aseurai, pulling from lead singer/synthesist Crystal Choi’s Korean mother tongue
to encapsulate the themes. “Aseurai means around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away,” Choi says. “It’s a poetic
expression. You wouldn’t say it in normal conversation, but I like that.”
Following the four-piece band’s 2024 self-titled EP, Aseurai adds disco and city-pop influences while staying true to dream-pop roots.
While Phoebe Rings was originally a solo project of Choi’s, Aseurai marks a shift with contributing songwriting credits from the whole
band. The four musicians cut their teeth working on other notable NZ projects such as Princess Chelsea, Fazerdaze, Tiny Ruins, AC
Freazy,, Sea Views and Lucky Boy.
With a more ambitious collection of instruments, Choi says this album heralds the start of true collaboration: “I feel more precious about
this LP because it includes everyone’s gems.” Guitar/synthesist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent spearheads unexpected arrangements, with
bold fuzzy guitar textures, to spice up the mix. Benjamin Locke adds maturity to the lyrics, paired with perfectionist bass lines. And
drummer Alex Freer’s slick production soars Aseurai to diverse and synergetic heights. The broth is richer with more cooks in the
kitchen, and the brewing of textures creates a distinct ‘Phoebe Rings’ sound.
If the EP was spacey, then Aseurai settles on earth, rooted in tangible moments. “Without getting too gloomy, it’s 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. Across ten
songs, Phoebe Ring’s storytelling ranges from tongue-in-cheek musings on gentrification to tender autobiographical memories.
아스라이 흩어지는 하늘의 별이 (May the falling light of faraway stars) / 그대의 손 끝에 닿아 숨이 돼주길 (Reach your fingertips and let
you breathe),” Choi sings in the title track “Aseurai.” Imagined as a breezy track inspired by a 90’s Korean pop band, Choi discovered,
when fleshing out the lyrics, that it was about yearning for people she couldn’t 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-Vincent’s 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 Tāmaki 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 - launching skyward on Carpark Records in June 2025.
Tracklisting
Side A 1. Aseurai 2. Not A Necessity 3. Mandarin Tree 4. Get Up 5. Playground Song Side B 6. Fading Star 7. Static 8. Drifting 9. Blue
Butterfly 10. Goodnight

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