Genre-bending future soul visionaries HIATUS KAIYOTE have announced Crystal Chen as special guest for their 15th Band-iversary New Zealand Tour.
Tamaki Mākaurau-based Chinese-New Zealand singer, musician, and visual artist Crystal Chen uses different mediums in her creative practice to reflect her perspective and reaction to the world around her through an honest and romantic lens. Having paved a path for herself since her first release in 2020, she’s been known for her soft and alluring songwriting abilities, which explore themes of love, loss and fleeting memories.
Final tickets are on sale now.
Crystal Chen has steadily built success over the past few years with her live performances, having supported Australian alt-indie trio Telenova, plus festival placements at The Others Way and CubaDupa, and multiple sold-out headline shows. In a testament to the synergy between her sound and visual sensibilities, Crystal likes to direct her own music videos, and the Love Letter music video won Best Music Video at the HALO International Film Festival. It was also nominated for an LA Independent Women Film Award and Best NZ Music Video at the 2024 Vision Fest Film Festival.
The work of an old soul with a young heart, or perhaps an analog girl in a digital world, Crystal Chen’s debut album You Can Call Me CC unfolds at its own unhurried pace. It showcases an intoxicating mélange of jazz, post-disco, R&B and modern soul. Comprising twelve songs that feel like handwritten journal entries translated into music, set to a backdrop of intricate compositions and ornate instrumentation provided by New Zealand’s finest musicians, the album offers an intimate window into the emotional landscapes and metamorphosis of a woman who is the artist and muse.
Led by singer-guitarist Naomi “Nai Palm” Saalfield, the Melbourne funkateers Hiatus Kaiyote – featuring bassist Paul Bender, keyboardist Simon Mavin and drummer Perrin Moss – exploded internationally with their 2012 debut Tawk Tomahawk, which drew praise from the likes of Prince, Erykah Badu and Questlove. They landed their first of three Grammy nominations for their Q-Tip collaboration Nakamarra, received their second for their polyrhythmic record Choose Your Weapon (2015), and had their music sampled by no less than Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé and Drake (with whom Nai Palm also collaborated on 2018’s monster hit Scorpion).
The band’s kaleidoscopic 2021 album Mood Valiant sent them into the national top five and earned them another Grammy nod, while their latest, 2024’s Love Heart Cheat Code, landed them an ARIA nomination for Best Group.
Wizards of the shapeshifting live show, Hiatus Kaiyote have built a formidable reputation for their spectacular stage performances – a high-wire mix of musical mastery and thrilling, edge-of-your-seat chaos.
Hiatus Kaiyote
15th Band-iversary
New Zealand Tour
3 September
Meow Nui, Wellington
4 September
Powerstation, Auckland
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
For complete tour and ticket information,