Michaela Tempers Releases ‘Good Woman’ EP + ‘Nothing to Lose’ Music Video
Writer and musician Michaela Tempers explores the complexities of womanhood on her accomplished new EP Good Woman released today, November 5th, via Aotearoa’s Home Alone Records. Bringing together threads from history, legend and religion, the six songs on the record are rich with incisive detail, performed with sincerity, wit and a nod to contemporary and classic touchstones.
She will be celebrating the EP with a home town show in Te Whanganui-a-Tara on 13th November, at San Fran with her full band.
Michaela picked up a guitar for the first time at 16 after seeing a black and white video of Joan Baez covering Bob Dylan’s classic It Ain’t Me Babe. She begged her brother for guitar lessons and taught herself to sing, inspired predominantly by the folk artists of the 60’s and 70’s. While studying for her master’s in Creative Writing, she began writing songs again, inspired by being back in a creative space after a long time away. These songs formed the basis for her forthcoming EP, informed by her early influences as well as more recent loves, Frazey Ford, Laura Marling, and Julia Jacklin. She has opened for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Holly Arrowsmith, Jed Parsons, as well as Australian folk artists Boy & Bear.
After releasing four singles Forest Fire, Good Woman, Higher Ground, Saintly (the latter which has a stellar animated video, which you can watch here), and a sold out single release show late last year, the long awaited EP is finally ready for full release with the addition of two previously unheard tracks.
Nothing to Lose is groovy, dead-pan and percussive, with Tempers singing about anxiety, nihilism and caring too much. It is accompanied by a retro music video filmed in Foxton and directed by Nick George. “The song was written during a really anxious period of my life. Looking back, I think it was me trialling self-compassion. It’s okay to be emotional, to feel too much, to get things wrong.”
The Plane is the final track on the record. It is contemplative, reminiscent of Higher Ground and 60’s folk. “It’s about this strange intersection between ambition, happiness and grief,” Tempers explains. “It’s about wanting something that feels trivial, trivial because life can be so harsh, because it doesn’t hold its punches.”
Both tracks were recorded at Birdwood Studios, featuring an all-star folk band of Chris Armour (guitar), Dayle Jellyman (organ), Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa (drums), Phoebe Johnson (bass), and Brooke Singer (keys). The EP was mixed and produced by Brooke Singer and Chris Armour, with additional recording by Lee Prebble at Surgery Studios, and mastered by Carl Saff.
Photo Credit: Nick George
