Wellington’s Wiri Donna shares her perfect weekend playlist.

Bianca Bailey is the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter behind the chamber-pop project Wiri Donna, which recently released its second EP, In My Chambers. “I’m feeling a little vulnerable about it, almost like I’m about to out myself as an angry person. I hope everyone knows these songs exist so that I don’t have to be angry,” Bailey says of the record. “I find a lot of joy in music that’s focused around conversations you’d never have in real life so although they might be a little darker, heavier and hold a lot of rage, I hope that people find connection in this record’s brutal honesty.”

The record has been in the world for a week now, and in mid-November Wiri Donna will tour the EP for the first time through Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier, Hamilton, Auckland and Wellington. “It’s the live shows where I feel like everything comes full circle, people get to connect to the music on a new level and my band is a joy to play with,” she says. And with so much going on, Bailey says she’s usually a “quiet time, bath or go to the gym” kind-of person when she needs her downtime, but lately her solace has been in playing the new Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies. “I am leaning into the chaos and I am here for it.”

She says the perfect scenario to enjoy her music is “preferably in an environment where you can let out some sort of cathartic scream, so maybe not for public listening unless you have headphones, or really loud in the car. If you can stomach a walk up to the top of Mt Vic, I’d say at the top of a mountain feels like the right kind of place.”

Bailey shares her ten “cathartic songs for when you need to climb that mountain” and find perfection by “yelling into the wind”.

Elliott Dawson – ‘Quarter Life’ 

I don’t know how much explanation you needed for this one beyond the fact I turned 25 this year. 

The Last Dinner Party – ‘Nothing Matters’

One of the results of turning 25 is being faced with the realisation that ultimately … nothing matters. Funnily enough when I listen to this song I somehow feel like everything matters.

Fontaines D.C. – ‘Starbuster’

As far as songs that are inherently angry but bring you a whole lot of joy go, this is top tier. “I’m gon’ hit your business if it’s momentary blissness” has got to be one of my favourite lines right now. 

Lola Young – ‘Conceited’

Listening to this song is a great alternative for punching someone in the face, and to be completely clear it is my advised alternative.

Vera Ellen – ‘Imposter’

Yeah … me too Vera, me too.

Nemahsis – ‘Stick of Gum’

This is another one of those songs that sonically it’s so beautiful and joyful, but the lyrics are chilling and dark: “You could plead guilty and I will do the time”.

Mystery Waitress – ‘Nightbug’

This is another “yeah, me too” moment. I consider myself lucky if I’ve only managed to make the same mistake twice – my mistake repetition rate is a lot higher than Tessa’s [from Mystery Waitress], but the sentiment is still there.

Dry Cleaning – ‘Don’t Press Me’

So subtle, yet so chaotic.

Black Country, New Road – ‘Sunglasses’

This is another one of those brooding slow bangers, it lets you stew for such a long time before exploding into chaos, and I never knew yelling “leave my Daddy’s job out of this” would hit so hard, but alas it does. The sense of relief I feel after a good ‘Sunglasses’ listening session is next to none.

Phoebe Bridgers – ‘I Know The End’

I think this is an excellent place to end, specifically because Phoebe ends this song by yelling into the wind. I’ve been deeply connected to this song since the second I first heard it.