Reviews

Drive She Said

1 March, 1998

Columbia Records Media Release 1 March, 1998.

DRIVE SHE SAID

Columbia Records artist Bic Runga, whose debut album DRIVE arrives in American stores this July, will visit these shores in March-April to perform on a special four city rotating residency tour (see itinerary below).

The 21-year-old Runga's self-penned self-produced debut was released last year in her native New Zealand, where the album entered the charts at #1, stayed there for a month, remainedin the Top 10 for 20 consecutive weeks, and earned triple platinum status, making Bic the only local talent to hit that nation's Top 5 bestsellers list for 1997.

DRIVE acknowledges the ethereal guitar vibe and energy of the post-pop New Zealand underground (cf. the Verlaines, the Bats, the Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, Flying Nun Records) while introducing a unique sensuality at once earthy, yet evanescent. And spectacular.

Born into a musically-inclined family (her mother sang in
Malaysian nightclubs while both of her sisters play in bands), Bic, at the age of 18, left her hometown of Christchurch in the sparsely-populated South Island and headed for Auckland, center of New Zealand's pop music scene. Absorbing the sounds around her, Bic began writing, playing cafe gigs and recording her first demos.

Her first New Zealand single (since re-recorded as the title track of DRIVE) was one of those demos, written scant minutes before her first solo performance in Auckland. 

"I didn't have enough songs to >make up a 40-minute set," Bic remembers. "I feel the best songs write themselves in a sort of stream-of-consciousness way... they aren't labored over." 

Securing a deal with Sony in New Zealand, Bic released two more successful singles, headlined shows, opened for folks like Crowded House's Neil and Tim Finn, and threw herself into writing and recording DRIVE. Recording many of her vocals in her own home, Bic took the completed album to Los Angeles where it was mixed by Matt Wallace (Faith No More, John Hiatt). 

Bic helped ensure the success of DRIVE by performing her music live, providing an intense and mesmerizing experience for her fans. 

With Bic Runga at the wheel, DRIVE is definitely going places. And you're invited along for the ride at the following venues.... 

Date City/State Venue 

>3/24 Washington, D.C. Metro Cafe 

>3/25 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Old City Coffee 

>3/26 Cambridge, Massachusetts Kendall Cafe 

>3/30 Cambridge, Massachusetts Kendall Cafe 

>3/31 New York, New York Living Room 

>4/1 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Old City Coffee 

>4/2 New York, New York Living Room 

>4/6 Cambridge, Massachusetts Kendall Cafe 

>4/7 Washington, D.C. Metro Cafe 

>4/8 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Painted Bride