By Nick Dwyer
It’s an amazing album.
It has already been stolen from the Sunrise office... we're not naming names.
Everyone wants it.
The story with Gin: In 2005 she won an international song writing competition – 11,000 entries from 77 different countries around the world and her song Hallelujah, which is on her first EP, came number one. That’s testament to her ability. When that award was announced, very little was known about Gin Wigmore. I was like "oh Gin Wigmore, this young lady from the Shore. I want to know more about this girl".
Traditionally female solo artists in New Zealand have a guitar, it's very nice, that's not a bad thing at all, but in the last two or three years we have seen artists a little bit more left of centre. Performers like Ladyhawke and, of course, Gin Wigmore, have got their own kind of vibe – and it's a good vibe.
Gin was signed to Universal Australia, suddenly she signed to Universal Motown. She could quite possibly go on to be our most successful solo female artist of all time.
The thing I like about Gin is that she's got attitude, but she can do ballads, she can do gospel, she can do blues, she can do that rocky thing. And it’s all covered in the album.
The album is recorded with The Cardinals and they sound amazing. Production was headed by Mike Alonzo who has produced everyone from Fiona Apple to Nelly Furtado to Regina Spektor.
Sure, the album has that very amazing American, big budget style production, but the thing about Gin's voice is that it's just so unique and amazing that it never lets the album feel too super-polished. Even if it is 64 tracks of instruments, she always brings it back, and it’s a great juxtaposition of her voice and the super production.
I like it. I’m giving it four stars.
As told to Sunrise.