Auckland synth-pop band Polyester’s self-titled debut album is out at last!  

Following their performance at Laneway 2018, the band felt releasing a full length album was the next milestone they needed to reach. “It’s definitely been a labour of love,” says keyboard player and songwriter Amelia Berry, “complete with the tears and sleepless nights.” Bassist Michael Garelja says he is “bloody chuffed” with the record and that it feels “like a nice progression from our earlier recordings.”

While the band’s sound has certainly progressed since their first single ‘Lucky Me/Ordinary Day’, their lyrics remain focussed on celebrating the beauty and sadness of the everyday. “It’s magic - like when our eyes meet and our eyes have never met before” vocalist Sylvia Dew sings on the album’s opening track: a simple yet affecting description of a charged moment.

Between the atmospheric keyboards and bittersweet Kiwi-accented vocals, the album is kept moving by the often complex interplay of the rhythm. Garelja, along with drummer Keria Paterson and guitarist Tane Pamatatau-Marques, shift from tight Chic-inspired grooves on tracks like Strange Emotion to the power-pop of Closer than Words without ever losing their distinctive sense of identity.

If this new eponymous album is anything to judge by, expect big things from Polyester in the coming years.