Princess Chelsea announces her first tour of Aotearoa in two years after the release of her last album, The Loneliest Girl delivering a mix of known and loved PC songs along with a smattering of brand new music.
Princess Chelsea describes the return as “The tour is a return to live performance after I put my health before my music for the first time in 2018 and paused my ‘Loneliest Girl’ tour of New Zealand midway through. Two years later I’m pressing play again and excited to come back.”
Lauded by The FADER as “a Nancy Sinatra for the Shazam era – her voice, warm as a dimming flashbulb, spreads prestige over music that infuses genres from pop to house”, Princess Chelsea will be accompanied by the same band that toured the world with her for the Loneliest Girl album release in 2018 with the addition of Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent (Lucky Boy, Phoebe Rings). The band’s motto is “100% live aka no laptops and as many synths as possible”.
Joining for the full tour is Dunedin electronic artist, Stef Animal, acclaimed by Bandcamp Daily as “a leading example of Oceanic Vaporwave”.
Visuals for the shows designed by the fantastical video animation artist, Simon Ward.
“The Auckland musician is here to subvert expectations… she begins in a voice sweeter than peach pie and syrup, her voice gliding over slow, classic garage rock riffs that sit somewhere between Velvet Underground and The Cramps… her eyes sparkling through a deadpan expression, injecting a pure shot of cynicism into an otherwise saccharine tale of romance.” – Noisey UK
“Wrapped up in the fluffy baby whisper vocals are warnings against smoking, dating older men, loneliness.” Wonderland
“confident and impressive.” Louder than War 8/10
“It shouldn’t make sense, but it does, and it’s brilliant.” Joyzine
“Princess Chelsea doesn’t make a single misstep, making some seemingly incongruous musical elements sound as if they were always meant to fit together.” Soundblab
Bio:
A classically trained pianist, Nikkel lent her talents to self-professed “circus punk” act Teen Wolf in the mid-2000s, and later in the touring lineup of indie pop outfit the Brunettes. When she wasn’t performing, she worked as a composer for a local recording studio, all the while refining her songwriting and production skills. Her full-length debut as Princess Chelsea, Lil’ Golden Book, was released in late 2011 by New Zealand label Lil’ Chief, and included the viral YouTube hit “Cigarette Duet” (nearly 53 million views and counting). The album was a collection of songs about her youth presented with innocent melodies and baroque arrangements to create a musical fairy tale. The juxtaposition of her simple arrangements, childlike delivery and cynical wit is a significant and defining characteristic of her music.
She followed up with a synth-heavy sci-fi opera about a future world rendered helpless in the face of depression brought on by technology, The Great Cybernetic Depression was released by Lil’ Chief and Flying Nun in June 2015. She also released a surprise album of covers called Aftertouch, featuring covers by Nirvana, The Beatles, Interpol, Lucinda Williams and Marianne Faithfull. Princess Chelsea’s third studio album ‘The Loneliest Girl’ was two years in the making and released September 2018 examining the loneliness and ultimately the artistic satisfaction a strong work ethic can bring, the result of which is this eclectic collection of pop songs.
Princess Chelsea Socials:
***
