New Zealand’s Amelia Murray, who mostly self-produces under her band moniker, Fazerdaze, wowed the world when she came on the international scene in 2014, with her hit single, “Lucky Girl,” with its shoegazey dream pop sound. After taking a five year break, because of burnout, she returned on the scene with her EP Break! with a surprising 90’s grunge feel to it. Well, with her latest album, Soft Power, she’s back to the echo electronica dream pop that catapulted her onto the scene.

From the first track, the title track, she reminds me of her dream pop sister Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast. “I’ll find it, my soft power / in the dark, I’ll hold the quiet glow.” The album is introspective and a bit subversive in its embracing things like sleep as a life giver (“Sleeper”) and lines like, “It’s everything I know we really shouldn’t be doing / but it’s so easy.”

It’s a full offering, with satisfying background vocals, adventurous beats, and complex compositions. It was introduced with her single, “Bigger,” which is about navigating a relationship while in the thick of fame and popularity. “It’s strange and new / And I’m swept up in a crowded room / no one gets me like you do.” Where Break! had a more straight forward rock approach, Soft Power, in line with the album name, doesn’t hit you square between the eyes, but wraps up the heart in warm blankets and lets you take a nap.

There are clear mental health themes on the album. “My walls came in then start to go up / I crawl back in back into my shell,” Amelia sings on the dreamy “Purple_02.” “But like a fading dream / You’re further than I reach,” she ends the album on “City Glitter.” Her guitar work throughout the album is impressive, and the final two tracks feature her acoustic guitar chops to stunning effect. I personally prefer her raucous Break! EP to this, though there is a softness to this album that is certainly hypnotic.

It is an album, like much of the lyrics, for the dark glow of the late night. There’s also a danceability to the album, even featuring a dance song, “Dancing Years,” on the album, and you could see how this could be a pretty powerful live show, with such intimate lyrics and such a big dreamy sound. I think her listeners will resonate with the look behind the curtain, and her concert goers will resonate with the body moving sound.

order Soft Power by Fazerdaze HERE