Emily Rice's new waiata 'Red & Blue'

Aotearoa Indie-pop singer-songwriter, Emily Rice, has released her new single and video for ‘Red & Blue’ ahead of her EP Auaha due out on May 7.

The multi-instrumentalist says the inspiration for this smooth, jazz styled pop track struck during lockdown last year when she was on the lawn at home looking up at the blue sky.

“I closed my eyes and saw red and I love that feeling, warmth on the skin on a blue sky day and the red of your eyelids when that light is shining through closed eyes.”

From here, Rice wrote down all the contrasts she could think of and all the different things those two words evoked for her, and that's where the song started.

“It's a simple song for me about all red & blue and the different things they both mean to me, and about feeling all those different feelings and embracing the highs and lows of life in depth.”

Starting out, the song was vocals with a simple repetitive guitar, recorded at home, Rice added vocal layers, clicks and percussion. Producer M J Collier made the vocals pop. Bass was then added by Maia Huia and finally Vivek Gabriel mastered the track.

In conjunction with the single release, the video for ‘Red & Blue’ was filmed at Karioitahi beach on a Super 8 camera and was produced and edited by Beka Hope.

Emily Rice’s third EP Auaha moves through a variety of different styles, always integrating vocal looping, sprinkles of jazz and a touch of the saxophone. Her new sound is best described as chill DnB/RnB-pop.