Sofia Machray’s expecting an emotional homecoming next month.
The Arrowtown-raised indie singer-songwriter’s hitting the Queenstown leg of a national tour to release her debut album, Language of Flowers, on August 5.
Machray’s parents sold her childhood home last year to shift to Taupō and Machray says she will grapple with a few emotions about the “idea of home and what the definition of that actually means to me now” when she rolls into the Whakatipu to play a free show at Yonder.
This theme features on Between Now and Then, the first of six tracks on the EP released last Friday.
Machray has lived in Wellington since 2018 when she headed north to study commercial music at Massey University, fresh out of Wakatipu High School.
But Arrowtown is still and “always will be home for me”.
‘‘I feel a deep connection with nature being from Arrowtown … a big connection with the mountains, it’s always been with me throughout my music.’’
Machray’s obsession with flowers inspired the album she co-produced with engineer and bandmate Robbie Pattinson, mixed by James Goldsmith.
‘‘I’ve always been drawn to flowers, the way they change with seasons and day-to-day life whether we notice them or not.
‘‘I think humans are similar in many ways and I love writing about these concepts.
‘‘Aside from nature fuelling my creativity the outdoor world has played a significant role in my life and wellbeing.’’
Machray, who turned 24 on Sunday, says the record ‘‘was like writing letters to my future self to help me get through confusing times and
modern-day pressures of growing into adulthood’’.
‘‘Over the last year of making this record, I found myself subconsciously writing about moving on before the moving on had even begun.
‘‘These moments of self-discovery can be confronting at times … I often find myself turning to nature to help me come to peace with overwhelming feelings.’’
She says the EP is in the ‘‘indie round’’.
‘‘It goes from indie-folk to indie-dream-rock, there’s a whole bunch of sounds in there.
‘‘I love … layering up a lot of textures and things and I think that’s where the dreamiest sound comes from.”
New York’s Atwood Magazine is a fan.
“Tension slowly dissipates into a sweet release that washes over us, drenching our ears and our hearts in a stunning, seductive indie rock sound,” wrote the mag’s album review.
“[With her] glistening sonics, and unfiltered honesty that hits hard and leaves an instant, lasting mark … Sofia Machray is without doubt an artist to watch moving forward.”
Right now she’s “really excited” to be moving forward with her five-piece band in a tour that’s the result of “a lot of saving and working to get to this point”.
And grateful for funding from the NZ Music Commission that helps pay for the band on tour, a cost Machray wears because “it’s not
like a collective project”.
“I love supporting the creative people around me.”
Language of Flowers Release National Tour, Yonder, August 5. Free. Tickets via peach-promotions.com
