Wings of Desire

Hemi Hemingway (Waitaha, Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga) levels up on Wings of Desire, swapping the dive-bar croon of his early days for some unhinged antics. Our cowboy still has that 60s charm we know and love, just with a bit of retro-futurist touches; with cinematic callbacks and searing responses to threats against Māori rights as well as a couple of guest turns from Georgia Gets By and Vera Ellen, wowza! - Flying Out

Wings of Desire is the follow-up to Hemingway’s acclaimed 2023 debut album Strangers Again, which was bursting with ‘50s crooner and ‘60s rock-and-roll romance. The project began while Hemingway was living in London, immersed in the post-punk and garage-rock scenes there; when the Covid pandemic struck, he took the opportunity to create a studio project with which he could experiment with other musical directions, a new persona, and a more personal and honest mode of songwriting. “I was trying to write about things like love, where I hadn’t been able to in the past,’ he says. The name Hemi Hemingway was chosen as a nod to his Māori heritage, with an intention to express his connection to an identity from which he has often felt forcibly detached. Upon launching the project, he released the 2021 EP The Lonely Hunter, headlined sold-out shows at Moth Club and the Shacklewell Arms, and landed support slots for the likes of Kurt Vile and Night Beats.

Tracklist

1. Wings of Desire
   
2. This City’s Tryna Break My Heart
   
3. Desiree
   
4. Promises (feat. Georgia Gets By)
   
5. (To Be) Without You
   
6. 6th April '13
   
7. Long Distance Lover
   
8. If Love Is a Winter’s Day
   
9. Oh, My Albertine (feat. Vera Ellen)
   
10. No Future No Future No Future