Review | Morningside by Fazerdaze, an intimate, dreamy debut album
New Zealander Amelia Murray, who will perform in Hong Kong on October 17, pulls off effortless guitar-pop melodies at once melancholy and bright
Morningside
Flying Nun
Written and recorded in various homes and bedrooms, the debut album from New Zealand singer-songwriter Amelia Murray, who goes by the moniker Fazerdaze, has a deeply personal vibe. Listening to her blissful indie pop is like basking in the sun and staring at the sky as the 24-year-old reads from her diary. Like all good DIY music, it borders on the confessional, without the listener ever feeling they are prying.
Murray (who will play North Point’s Mom Livehouse on October 17) writes guitar-pop melodies that sound effortless and are sometimes dreamy. A brightness, however, breaks through the melancholy. It’s often difficult to tell, from song to song, whether she is happy or sad, and there’s a sublime gentleness to her wonderment. “I like the way you talk about yourself, as if you’re someone else,” Murray sings on the album’s highlight, Misread. “I like the way you smile, when you’re so proud of something you did yourself.” That she could be talking about herself only adds to the song’s warmth and intimacy.