New Music & Video Release - Mel Parsons yearns for childhood summers on nostalgic single 'Caravan' - 6th March 2026
Photo - Chloe Langley
Artist Name - Mel Parsons
Release Name - Caravan
Release Date - 6th March 2026
Genre - Indie Folk, Indie, Alternative Country
Label - Cape Road Recordings
Fresh from headlining the Auckland Folk Festival, critically acclaimed singer and songwriter Mel Parsons kicks off a new year of music with ‘Caravan’ - a nostalgic track of rose-tinted childhood memories of summers on the West Coast.
“I had a pretty quintessential childhood of a Kiwi farm kid; we rode horses on the beach, spent summers making huts and lighting fires, swimming and riding our bikes”.
“The deafening cicadas; the sharp lime chip under foot, walking across to the old caravan parked up at the end of the driveway; the smell of horses, salt water, and crates of long neck beer bottles sitting in the sand.”
Through the transportive nature of sounds, smells and tactile memory of her own early years Parsons explores the adult realisation that summers are short and there are only a handful of them to be enjoyed in the carefree state of being a kid.
Parsons explains; “there’s something very special about childhood in that you have no time reference for how long things last - the idea for ‘Caravan’ was tapping back into that feeling of summers going on forever.”
Written by Parsons and produced by Josh Logan, ‘Caravan’ follows her most recent single ‘Don’t Leave The Light On’ - a heart-rending alt-folk ballad, which laid bare the harsh reality of domestic abuse. The string of singles prior include ‘Be Here Now’ featuring Mitchell Froom (Crowded House) on keys; ‘Brick By Brick’ and ‘Post High Slide’.
Mel Parsons is one of Aotearoa’s most celebrated songwriters and prolific touring musicians. Recent years have seen her extensively touring both sides of the Tasman, opening for Crowded House, performing at Folk Alliance in Montreal, Canada and, most recently, headlining Auckland Folk Festival.
Notable albums include the AMA-winning GLASS HEART (2019), the superb SLOW BURN (2022) and the chart-topping SABOTAGE (2024), which was nominated for the prestigious Taite Prize and Album of the Year in the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards.
“This album [SABOTAGE] really locates the mournful quality in Mel Parsons’ voice, and highlights what a remarkable instrument it is; oceans of feeling sounded out with apparently little effort”
- Tony Stamp, RNZ
The nominations sit alongside awards and accolades Mel has picked up across her career, including ‘Best Folk Artist’ at the 2020 AMAs.
Dive into childhood nostalgia with Mel Parsons on her new single ‘Caravan’.