New Music & Video Release - Tamaki Makaurau's Hina announces debut album Descending Dreams - 24th April 2026
Hina by - Ebony Lamb
Artist Name - Hina
Release Name - South Pacific Sun
Release Date - 24th April 2026
Genre - Singer Songwriter, Neo-Soul, Indie Pop
Label - Rough Trade Records / Audika Records
After six years shaping her sound and presence across the Tāmaki Makaurau music scene, HINA announces her much-anticipated debut album, Descending Dreams, out 31st July.
Emerging from a period of personal turbulence, the album explores complex relationships and the gradual reclamation of her own voice. Rooted in Aotearoa’s inherent resilience, Descending Dreams never lets struggle end on a hopeless note. The album carries the understated poise of touchstones like Sway, Riverhead, and What To Do With Daylight. Orchestral strings and dusty country cadences frame HINA’s voice with warmth and grace.
Recorded at Roundhead Studios with producer Navakatoa Tekela-Pule, refined with James Milne (Lawrence Arabia), and brought to life alongside an all-star ensemble – including Dave Khan, Tiare Kelly, Stenn Frances-Deare, Hamish Milne, De Stevens, Finn Scholes and a string quartet with Sandy Niu and Olivia Wilding– each track was meticulously crafted with Paddy Hill to balance intimacy and precision. Descending Dreams transforms personal upheaval into a shared refuge.
“The album now seems to trace how I tried to make sense of things that didn’t need to make sense in the way that I was looking for,” explains HINA. “I searched for meaning in glances, in tone, in location, in weather, in sickness, in coincidence, in acts of God. I was trying to be devoted. I was trying to be brave. I was trying to endure. This album is now the record of that love.”
Alongside the announcement of Descending Dreams, HINA unveils ‘South Pacific Sun,’ a luminous single where tender strings and her velvety vocals entwine around meditative, introspective lyrics. The track is accompanied by a music video directed by Amy and her mum, filmed at Kāhui St David’s. HINA says, “It’s so special to have filmed at KSD, as a kind of testament to the subtle ways in which life weaves relationships with people and place. My first connection with KSD was as one of the many hands that helped prep for sale the iconic brass quatrefoils created by Max Gimblett, following their three-month installation on the outside of KSD. Many years later, I performed for the launch of Peata Larkin’s ‘Aumārire_Harmony’ artworks, which serendipitously became a feature in this video. With the album photography also taken at KSD by Ebony Lamb, it just made sense in so many ways.”
On the track, HINA reflects: “The opening ocean sounds were recorded at my local beach, where I’ve been going since I was a child. To me, the music has a quintessentially South Pacific flavour. But this song isn’t about the ocean, not really. It’s me asking for balance, calm, safety, and permission to exist. It’s about emotional homelessness, living inside someone else’s world. This song is hope entwined with early self-abandonment, still believing peace is possible but already disappearing to find it.”
Hina - ‘Coucou!’ (Official Music Video) - Watch / Stream: https://gyro.to/coucou
‘South Pacific Sun’ is out now on all streaming platforms. Descending Dreams is available to pre-order now, and will be released digitally and on vinyl, secure your copy here.
HINA - Descending Dreams - Out July 31st - PRE-ORDER HERE
South Pacific Sun
Coucou!
River To Mouth
The Fountain
House Within A Room
Hope Has Teeth
Take Apart Me
India
Back To The Fire
Hollywood Graves
