Album Review: Plagued By Visions

Enter at your own risk. Time has a habit of disappearing inside Kiki Rockwell’s world.

Plagued By Visions is not the beginning of Kiki Rockwell’s story. It is the latest chapter in a world she has been carefully building since the release of her debut single Left For Dead in October 2021. She has grown from the dark folk storytelling of Bleeding Out In A Forest EP, through the rituals, myths and witchcraft of Rituals On The Bank Of A Familiar River Album, to the grander scope of Eldest Daughter Of An Eldest Daughter released in 2024. Before this new album even arrived, Kiki had already given listeners four glimpses into the world of Plagued By Visions through the singles Selkie, Vampyr, Faery Queen and A Dying Knight’s Lament, each adding another piece to her expanding mythology.

Four years after Left For Dead, Kiki Rockwell isn’t chasing trends. She’s busy building her own mythology. Rather than reinventing herself, she continues to deepen the folklore-rich universe she has created, where fairy tales, rage, ancient traditions and modern electronic production can exist side by side. It is a world that by now feels unmistakably hers and Plagued By Visions is strengthening the self-made genre.

Plagued By Visions track by track…

With Fire’s Burning, Kiki Rockwell opens Plagued By Visions like an invitation to gather around a campfire. The title recalls an old English canon often sung in rounds, and that sense of communal storytelling runs through the entire album. As in her previous work, she blends folklore, myth and old hymns with modern production and highly technical mixing techniques. It is her trademark: dark, wild and slightly odd, yet somehow familiar and comforting at the same time.

If you have never heard a Kiki Rockwell album before, A Dying Knight’s Lament arrives as a surprise single just before the full album release. Folk music should not be this deep, this dark, or this medieval while still embracing so many electronic tools, but Kiki made it work before and makes it work again. It feels like a statement of intent, setting the stage for what is to come while also reflecting the mysterious artwork that accompanies the release.

Much of Plagued By Visions bears almost only Rockwell’s fingerprints. While many modern releases arrive with a lengthy list of writers, producers and engineers, Kiki continues to wear an impressive number of hats herself. From songwriting and production through to engineering and arrangement, much of the world heard on this album has been shaped by her own hands. Specialists such as vocal engineer Neil MacLeod and mastering engineer Chris Chetland help provide some of the final polish, but the creative vision remains unmistakably Kiki alone.

The dreamy state of many of her songs can lead to a tendency of creating never-ending loops and endless repeats. Tracks like Lamb Eats Wolf stretch beyond the four-minute mark, and much of the other tracks follow that concept. Yet the constant rhythm changes, layered arrangements and strong storytelling mean the album never drags. Time disappears quickly when every song feels like another chapter in a larger tale.

The first real shock comes from the track, Ovulating!, the album’s most raw and untamed moment. This is pure EDM filtered through a Kiki Rockwell lens. Imagine the deep bass of an underground civilisation hosting a Matrix-style rave while fairy tales echo through the tunnels above. It is modern, bold, heavy and impossible to ignore, filling the room with energy from the opening beats.

That theatrical streak continues in The Hunger. Her distinctive vibrato sits among organ, piano and violin, creating something cinematic enough to soundtrack a fantasy epic. It is dramatic without becoming overblown, and one cannot help wondering whether Hollywood, or perhaps our own New Zealand film industry, has something in development that needs exactly this kind of atmosphere.

The ritualistic feeling returns with Circle Of Girls, a track that once again showcases one of Rockwell’s greatest strengths: vocal layering. She has demonstrated this throughout her previous releases, and here it is used with impressive skill and restraint. The result feels equal parts mantra, ceremony and storytelling.

With so many songs drawing from folklore and legends, it was only a matter of time before Selkie arrived. The conversation between human and selkie is beautifully realised, making the story accessible even for listeners who have never encountered the mythology before. The song is also a reminder of just how much Rockwell does herself. Writing, composing, producing and engineering all come together here. The accompanying visuals, featuring seals and rugged coastlines, further highlight her talents as a costume designer and visual storyteller. There are artists who sing songs, and there are artists who build complete worlds. Rockwell clearly belongs in the latter category.

By now, Kiki Rockwell’s music videos have become events. Her attention to costume design, choreography, cinematography and visual storytelling has helped turn songs into fully realised worlds. The response has been remarkable, with videos like Selkie rapidly finding large audiences online. In an era where many artists treat visuals as an afterthought, Kiki approaches them as another chapter of the story, making the music impossible to separate from the world it inhabits. Hitting play counts in one day that many Aotearoa artists can only dream of getting in years, is a statement this is pure talent.

Growing up between Germany, California and New Zealand has given Rockwell a unique perspective, and Vampyr benefits enormously from it. The vampire myth has always carried a strong European flavour, and there is something about the song’s tone and delivery that leans into that heritage. The Germanic vocals feel ancient and modern at the same time, which sums up much of the album.

One of the standout moments arrives with I’m Not Flirting I’m Just Hot And Speaking. Confidence and independence pulse through every line. It was one of the tracks I found myself returning to repeatedly. If “folk rap” was an official genre, it might fit here. Heavy, angry bass collides with short bursts of a hypnotic two-stroke violin motif, creating a sound that is unmistakably Kiki Rockwell.

The wonderfully titled A Hex For My Ex continues her long fascination with witchcraft imagery. A hex, a curse or magical spell, becomes the centrepiece of a melodic and strangely transcendent track. Modern beats step aside long enough for mysterious pipes and ancient drums to emerge. One of Rockwell’s greatest skills is knowing when to use real instruments and when to recreate historic textures through synths and keyboards. Not many artists can make electricity sound this old.

The blues influence Rockwell has mentioned in previous interviews surfaces most clearly on Demon Hunter. With her father introducing plenty of Blues music during her upbringing, the influence has always been there, and here it steps forward. Strong strings and a steady beat keep the song moving, proving once again that these tracks refuse to sit comfortably within any one genre.

Among the most intriguing songs is Hares On The Mountain, a traditional folk song with roots stretching deep into British and Celtic musical history. Rockwell’s version feels both ancient and fresh. The opening carries a distinctly English character, while the driving rhythm gives the song a Viking-like momentum. The rowing pulse she introduces becomes downright addictive, and the focus on strong female characters fits perfectly within the themes running throughout the album.

Rockwell has never hidden her love of reinterpretation. Previous releases included versions of traditional folk pieces, and even an ambitious reworking of Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. With Lay All Your Love On Me, she turns her attention to ABBA. What makes the track fascinating is how completely she transforms it. Strip away the familiar lyrics and little remains of the original arrangement. The song emerges as something entirely her own while still tipping its hat to the Swedish icons that inspired it. Spotting these influences has become part of the fun of listening to her work.

The album closes with Faery Queen, which is a good example of Kiki doing what she often does best: writing a song that sounds like it should have existed for 300 years, even when she wrote it herself. Making it very much her own modern creation. Perhaps it even acts as a companion piece to Faery King from her previous album. Either way, it highlights her ability to keep her catalogue feeling connected, cohesive and alive.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Kiki Rockwell’s world is no longer confined to headphones and computer screens. Across Europe, theatres and large venues have filled with fans eager to spend an evening among witches, knights, vampires, faeries and Kiki on stage. It is a remarkable achievement for an artist from Aotearoa whose music refuses to follow trends or sit neatly inside a genre. As it turns out, folklore travels exceptionally well even with this modern tone to it.

Plagued By Visions continues to blur the lines between folk, electronic music, mythology and theatre. Few artists can make medieval legends feel relevant to a modern audience, fewer still can make them danceable. Kiki Rockwell has once again managed both. If folklore had a festival stage and EDM had a medieval tavern, Plagued By Visions would be the meeting point. Witches, vampires, selkies, combined with synths, modern layering and sound samples, should not fit on the same album. Yet, Kiki Rockwell somehow makes them proudly dance together.