Ōtautahi singer-songwriter Mousey shares her perfect weekend playlist.

Christchurch’s Mousey, born Sarena Close, remembers the steps that led to her to the creation of her latest album, The Dreams of Our Mother’s Mothers. “I had just given birth and in my sleep deprived hormonal insanity I thought ‘this seems like a great time to record a single,'” she says. It actually wasn’t, but she did it anyway.

Alongside producer Will McGillivray, Mousey says she made the record with “my heart and guts on a silver platter paired with some crafty moody and broodiness.” She wrote and composed the entire album herself, and says inspiration for a song can begin anywhere, from a feeling or concept to a guitar riff or baseline. “I just follow my nose and intuition.”

For Mousey, a perfect weekend in Ōtautahi isn’t complete without a “trip to our favourite café (Noki), and the Riccarton Markets, then home for a long nap, and get a babysitter in the evening so I can play board games with my friends or go out to dinner and see a stand-up comedy show.” If you’re looking for the perfect weekend scenario to enjoy Mousey’s music, it’s more of a “alone in bed while dual screening a video game” vibe.

“All of these songs below are some of my favourites from Ōtautahi artists,” she says. “There is so much amazing music here and it could fill a hundred playlists! I have my own ‘Ōtautahi Aroha’ playlist on Spotify with a much larger list, but here are some that are the most special to me.”

Goodwill – ‘Plans’ 

Will is a producer in Ōtautahi, but his own music and his voice are unreal. He’s working with heaps of local Ōtautahi artists at the moment but he also released his own album recently which is incredible.  I chose this track cause I love the drums, they sit so nicely and I love how the song just chugs along. 

Adam Hattaway – ‘Good Times’

This song has a real wild feeling to it to me. The combination of the song, the video, and how refined the production is on the track makes it really stand out. He does a great job of translating the energy of his live sets to this song too, it’s like Arctic Monkeys meets The Mighty Boosh and it’s fantastic. 

Holly Arrowsmith – ‘Blue Dreams’

I like how honest this song is about being a new mum which is super relatable content to me right now. The whole album has a very Canterbury country sound to it which I love, and her voice always sounds phenomenal. 

Laura Lee Lovely – ‘Allandale’ 

This song just has such a cool feel to it. It feels quite different to the rest of Laura’s music, and I really hope to see more in this vein cause I love it so much. 

Casper Thomson – ‘II’ 

I was living and studying music with Casper when this EP was recorded. It was a massive flat with 12 people, holes in the walls and never ending dampness in winter, but I have really fond memories of that time and this song is really nostalgic for me. I love the rawness of the recording, the harmonies and the self-made percussion with cutlery.

Mini Miller – ‘Tangerine Days’

Mini Miller was a student of mine way back, and we decided to record an EP together with local producer Ryan Fisherman. Again it brings back those really fond memories of that time, and I’m so proud of what we achieved together in those few days.

Mim Jensen – ‘Pause Button’

Mim studied the year below me at Jazz School and that’s where we met. She’s an incredibly talented singer and songwriter and this song is my favourite of hers. I love the catchy chorus line that flips between her head and chest voice like a game of ping pong. 

Mitch Zachry – ‘julia you’re home’

Mitch has opened for me in Wellington before but is originally from Christchurch. He is incredibly creative and a really impressive guitar player, and was a finalist for the APRA Best Jazz Composition this year which was really exciting to see him be recognised. His music under Mitch Zachry is more acoustic modern folk with what sounds like a quadrupled (or more) vocal. Beautiful stuff.

Pickle Darling – ‘Rinse Spin Cycle/Nicolas Cage’

I play in the Pickle Darling band sometimes and this is my favourite song to play live. I play the main arpeggiated riff at the start manually and I feel like a hero. I think I cried the first time I heard this song, so it’s been amazing be actually be apart of re-arranging it and playing it live. 

Doprah – ‘Stranger People’ 

Doprah ceases to exist in 2024 but back in 2015 when I saw them live for the first time it changed my life! They were such an amazing band and I still listen to their album and EP. Stranger People is haunting angular percussive piece with a very memorable video to boot.