Pine release their second album Akira Sunrise

Pine release their second album Akira Sunrise today on Arch Hill!

Early on it was decided by Pine that album number two should continue down the path of DIY, home recording teko-soundfoolery. A perfect space in the middle of Christchurch city was soon located: polished floors, brick walls and a studio full of speaker bins including flashing lights and interesting dials. It all seemed too good to be true. And it was. Unbeknown to Pine the new studio shared space with a death metal band 2 doors down, a tone-deaf trumpet beginner next door and the 9 - 5ers of the city businesses below. This proved problematic and the low-decibel (but high-quality) Pine had to radically re-organise recording schedules. Much of the album was tracked between 6am and 9am as the city woke up...the biggest hurdle was the sound of street sweepers and the quality of the coffee.

A summer album was always promised - it just ended up being one summer later than planned. The recording was interspersed with a number of journeys north where the album was finally mixed and mastered by studio whizz Dale Cotton (HDU, Conray, Sleepers Union, Mestar and others)

ŒAkira Sunrise¹ retains much of the low-key chime and melodic charm of the bands previous releases, but there are also some new and additional sounds. These include a more fuzzed up hypnotic bass, loops, shimmering guitars and even a few songs longer than the previously favored two-minute pop snapshot. You may have already heard or seen the first single 'SeeSaw' on the radio or the telly.

The ŒAkira Sunrise¹ cover artwork was also a collaborative Pine project. The front image is based on a long lost schoolyard symbol: the marble. Within the CD booklet each Pine member contributed two panels to make up the full frontal colour combination. The spectacular final product is the result of all three-band members also being visual artists.

Pine will already be known to many New Zealanders through their first EP ŒSpeeding¹(2001) and debut album ŒLongplayer¹ (2002). These yielded the singles (and some videos) for ŒSpeeding¹, ŒMake Way for the King¹, ŒBeaten Again¹, ŒCried All Night¹ and ŒDays on End¹. Many favorable reviews were written on these releases and the band toured up and down the country sometimes in small bright orange 1970s ford escort. In the northern summer of 2003 Pine headed to London and New York to play five shows including Summerstage in Central Park and the infamous CBGBs.

Look out for the album in the good record stores

Thanks From Arch Hill

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