Nicholas Joseph Releases Debut Album ‘Sailing’ + Single ‘Giving Up’
Kirikiriroa’s Nicholas Joseph shares his debut album Sailing, alongside third single Giving Up in association with Sonorous Circle.
Following on the heels of Joseph’s self-titled EP, released at the end of 2025, Sailing is a melodic indie rock record, built around psych-tinged guitar work, woozy drum grooves and Joseph’s layered vocals.
While the album feels at home in a long lineage of dissonant electric guitar music from both at home (UMO, Pop Strangers) and abroad (Nick Hakim), Joseph’s layered vocal harmonies and the emotional gutpunch of songs like If and Giving Up make it distinctive.
The album was recorded over a feverish three days in early 2024, with drummer Arden Tanner-Dempsey and De Stevens, who also engineered and produced the record, on bass guitar.
“It was a funny situation, because we basically met De for the first time and jumped straight into three really long and intense days at the studio,” says Joseph.
“It was really fun to just dive headfirst into making a record within this pretty limited window of time.”
The album spans a turbulent few years for Joseph – songs written shortly after moving home from a stint in Shanghai (Final Chance, Giving Up), through to a later chapter living out in the Waipā countryside (Make It Simple, Sailing).
“Listening back to the album now, I feel like it captures some of the upheaval I was going through, both geographically and in my personal life,” he says. “It’s cool to have these little snapshots from what now feels like a lifetime ago.”
GIVING UP SINGLE AND NORTH ISLAND TOUR
Alongside the LP, Joseph’s third single and a standout from the album, Giving Up, is also released today. Perhaps the most up-tempo song on the record, it’s a break-up song built around a serpentine guitar motif and propulsive beat – a sharp contrast to the wide-open, pop-leaning Make It Simple and the woozy crunch of first single ‘Living.’
Nicholas Joseph tours the North Island, kicking off in Hamilton:
18 September @ Last Place Bar, Hamilton
19 September @ Okahukura Studio, Tauranga
1 October @ Whammy Bar, Auckland
13 December @ Moon Bar, Wellington
A limited edition run of cassette tapes will be available for purchase on Bandcamp and at all tour dates.
Photo Credit: Ruth Friedlander
