Vikae presents her new single ‘Moon City’

Tamaki Makaurau based singer songwriter Vikae (Veronika Bell) returns with her newest single Moon City. The single was produced by Will Henderson and is her main collaborator for her current project. The vocals were produced by long-term colleague and mentor Abigail Knudson. Moon City is the fourth single from her upcoming debut album Inferno. Vikae began writing this song during the very first “OG” lockdown in March 2020; Moon City took inspiration from a journal entry that was made when she was leaving Dunedin after a nasty break up.

Moon City is Vikae’s first break up single. Obviously nervous to put a single that openly discusses one of the hardest moments in her life, Vikae describes the process as ‘cathartic’ and ‘necessary’ for her healing process. “It’s taken nearly four years to get to this point. It’s bittersweet but it’s time to put these feelings to rest”, she says. The soundscape features old school 80s synths like the Roland D-50 and E-Soniq Mirage as well as fat 808’s, spicy marimbas and random samples from everyday objects found in the studio. Moon City bridges commercial pop and drum and bass, sitting somewhere comfortably in between.

Vikae has been busy since her debut EP (Finelines prod Abigail Knudson) was released last year. With honorable mentions in The NZ Official Charts and SRN Charts (respectively); she has been on four separate nationwide tours and performed at some of the biggest music festivals in the country including Bay Dreams Nelson, Hamilton Garden Arts Festival and Mardi Gras. Most recently, she has been added to AUM Festival where she is playing her first NYE set with drummer Jessica Hix.

Vikae wrote many of the songs for Inferno during quarantine last year when she was revisiting her old Ministry of Sound records that she spent all her pocket money on and collected in secret as a child. Inspired by her younger self, Vikae wanted to make music where one could dance around the living room screaming into a hairbrush microphone but yet find depth and stillness within the lyrics. Acknowledging the irony in writing dance/house music whilst being stuck in her house; a small hint of frivolity was an appropriate escapism from the world’s climate at the time (which sadly has not yet changed for many parts of the world). Each song has been carefully crafted with impeccable lyricism and emotive song writing; with a desire to blend the best of dance music and elements of pop.