Mel Parsons drops new album SLOW BURN & 11-date NZ Tour

Award-winning indie-folk artist Mel Parsons has today announced the release of her new album SLOW BURN for September 16, as well as revealing an 11-date national tour to follow in support of the album release.

Featuring the already released moody and nostalgic single ‘Carry On’; the dark and intense track ‘Already Gone’; and most recently, the mellow and meandering single ‘Slow Burn’, the album is to be one of grit and grace, with Parsons’ dusky vocals consuming the eleven new tracks.

Following the release of SLOW BURN, Parsons will embark on a national tour, taking in Napier (October 7), Palmerston North (October 8), Tauranga (October 13), Hamilton (October 14), Auckland (October 15), Wellington (October 16), Christchurch (October 29), Kerikeri (November 18), Nelson (November 24), New Plymouth (November 25) and Dunedin (November 26).

Tickets for the Mel Parsons SLOW BURN tour go on sale at 9.00am, Tuesday June 14, from Plus1 and Mel Parsons’ website.

“It’s been a long couple of years for everyone so we’re absolutely fizzing to finally be getting back on stage sharing music with audiences again,” says Mel Parsons.

“It's my favourite thing. I’m so excited about this new record and bringing it to life with the band.”

Written at Parsons’ home in Lyttelton, the record was produced at LOHO in Ōtautahi by multi-instrumentalist Josh Logan. Parsons’ is joined by her long-time band on the album, with cousin Jed Parsons on drums and backing vocals, Aaron Stewart on bass, and Logan playing guitars, piano and backing vocals.

The three already released singles are the first new releases from Mel since her critically acclaimed album GLASS HEART, which saw her win the coveted Best Folk Artist / Te Kaipuoro Taketake Toa at the 2020 Aotearoa Music Awards. The record was also a finalist for the 2019 Taite Music Prize and Top 20 finalist at 2019’s APRA Silver Scroll Award.

The album’s accolades are among a number of significant milestones, which have contributed to Mel’s recognition on the international indie-folk scene. Her debut album OVER MY SHOULDER and her sophomore album RED GREY BLUE were both finalists for Folk Album of the Year (in 2009 and 2011, respectively). This is all in addition to her 2015 released album DRYLANDS, which spent 51 weeks in the Independent Music NZ Album charts and won a Tui for Best Engineer in the same year. The full-time touring artist also garnered a Silver Scroll finalist nod for ‘Get Out Alive’ in 2015 and the 2016 NZCMA Best Song for ‘Alberta Sun’.

Dive into the already released singles from SLOW BURN, to get a taste of what’s to come on September 16 from this stunning singer-songwriter. And don’t miss seeing Mel Parsons perform the album, live, this October and November.