Orangefarm Announce New Album ‘Motoring For Beginners’ + Release New Single

Orangefarm is juiced to be back with a fresh crop of songs on the forthcoming new album Motoring for Beginners. Due for release on October 2, the sophomore effort by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington indie band follows and builds upon the group’s widely acclaimed 2023 debut Inheritance.

The first single from the new set is Affectionate Friction. It’s a lovely, unhurried, shimmering ode to long-term love in which songwriter Nigel Mitchell finds space for a line from a Shakespeare sonnet in the song’s autumnal, domestic setting. With the dreamy atmosphere conjured up by the quintet, Vivien Reid’s French horn helps set the wistful mood behind Mitchell’s voice. The song is a prelude to the more thoughtful side of the new album, which, on other tracks, delivers plenty of the guitar-jangling energy which helped make Inheritance shine so brightly.

Orangefarm has been a fixture on the Wellington music scene for 20 years as a vehicle for Mitchell’s songs which have tapped the spirit of alternative South Island outfits of the 1980’s – Mitchell originally hails from Christchurch and started his band career there – as well as British and Australian post-punk and indie touchstones.

Affectionate Friction is available across all key streaming platforms, and to purchase via Bandcamp. https://orangefarmnz.bandcamp.com/