12 Mar 2017

Not Green: Sarah Belkner

From New Horizons, 5:00 pm on 12 March 2017
But You Are, But It Has - cover image

But You Are, But It Has - cover image Photo: Free Energy Device Records

Sarah McCallum, Miss Little, Sarah Belkner ... same person.

In the wake of the global attention towards Lorde's "Green Light" single, William Dart encourages us to check out another young Kiwi singer-songwriter, Sarah Belkner.

He digs into her past where he finds choral compositions on CDs released by the Key Cygnetures and Tower Voices New Zealand.

Then she appeared as Miss Little for a CD titled When Things Fall Apart and Into Place, the result of her winning an online competition organised by Neil Finn.

Eventually she reverted to her real married name and has released an EP (Humans) and a new album with the "almost alarmingly cryptic title", But You Are, But It Is.

It's a shortish album - nine songs of little more than 30 minutes in total - but the rewards are many. There's some smooth songcraft going on here.

Sarah Belkner's website

And check out this stunning video for the song 'Susanne' from the Humans EP, featuring the 100-year old dancer Eileen Kramer.

Playlist

'Song title' (Composer) – Performers
Album title
(Label)

'It's Not Easy Being Green' (Raposo) – Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys
The Bottle Let Me Down: Songs for Bumby Wagon Rides
(Rounder)

'Green Light' (Yelich-O'Connor et al) – Lorde
single
(Universal)

'Poem from War' (McCallum) – Key Cygnetures Choir
The Long and Wairau Road
(Private)

'The Moon's Glow Once Lit' (McCallum) – Tower Voices New Zealand / Karen Grylls
New Zealand Voices
(Trust)

'Where's the Way Out' (McCallum) – Miss Little
When Things Fall Apart and Into Place
(Laughin Outlaw)

'Susanne' (Belkner) – Sarah Belkner
Humans EP
(Free Energy Device)

'All You Get's A Song' (Ladder) – Jack Ladder
Mistletonia
(Mistletone)

'Ego Blues' (Belkner) – Sarah Belkner
Humans EP
(Free Energy Device)

'Time' (Belkner) – Sarah Belkner
But You Are, But It Has
(Free Energy Device)

'George' (Belkner) – Sarah Belkner
But You Are, But It Has
(Free Energy Device)

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