Listener’s Songs of the Week: Kaylee Bell, Olivia Rodrigo, Violet Grohl, Kristin Hersh, a cover of a Chills’ classic, and more

by Kaylee Bell

Kaylee Bell has two new singles out, the humble-brag Once in a Lifetime written for the opening of One NZ Stadium a couple of weeks back and the rather better Me for Me. Both are co-writes with London-resident Kiwi bedroom-pop boffin Navvy (Phoebe Lee Jasper). And while Me for Me still leans on the Nashville edition of the fridge magnet poetry set for its lyrics, and comes with a video with a very high cowboy-boot factor, it feels like there something genuine underneath it all that hasn’t always been the case before. With a tune that reminds of Brooke Fraser’s Something in the Water, it’s Bell at her most infectious. – Russell Baillie

by Olivia Rodrigo

Here’s a further measure of her fame beyond Grammys: she sells by the truckload. Last month’s single Drop Dead debuted at the top of the Billboard charts and she’s following it up quickly with this aching folk ballad which rides steadily into ceiling-shaking and vigorous pop, also from the forthcoming album You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So In Love (June 12). Her forte is a song which gathers in intensity and it is certainly effective, this is a big beast of five minutes and it sweeps you along. We just have to admit it: she’s a massive talent and not slowing down. And despite her long-stated affection for Robert Smith’s goth-pop mob, it has nothing to do with band The Cure. – Graham Reid

by Violet Grohl

Dave Grohl’s legendary mother Virigina, who died in 2022, has been the inspiration for a couple of his songs, including Foo Fighters’ 10-minute epic The Teacher. On granddaughter Violet Grohl’s debut album, she gets a namecheck on this single in which the singer is “moving to grandma’s … Sweet Virginia, here I come …”. It’s a droll bit of nepo-grunge-pop with a video featuring veteran adult film star Nina Hartley as a rather different kind of granny. – Russell Baillie

by Kristin Hersh

The prolific American alt-rock veteran starts her approach to studio solo album number 12 with an intense outburst of her haunted, deep-twang folk-rock, with a Sinead O’Connor-eseque melody. The lyric is apparently mined from her childhood, when the arrival of her stepfather meant she and her brother would stay playing outside so they didn’t have to go home. – Russell Baillie

by Miriam Clancy and Dion Lunadon

Miriam Clancy’s new cover version of The Chills’ classic isn’t just a passing fancy – the New York-based New Zealander has been playing it in her live sets for a decade. Her self-proclaimed “girly” version might be pitched up to suit her voice, but it’s still all about that great guitar riff – provided here by fellow Kiwi Dion Lunadon (The D4). And that’s longtime NYC resident Stanley John Mitchell, once of The Drongos, on drums. It’s a fond shout-out to home, and to vanished friends, from three faraway New Zealanders. – Russell Brown