JOINING...

CASS MCCOMBS (USA) - TUESDAY 26th MAY - DOUBLE WHAMMY

DRY CLEANING (UK) - WEDNESDAY 3rd JUNE - HOLLYWOOD AVONDALE
Presented in partnership with I Oh You & MG Live

CATE LE BON (UK) - FRIDAY 5th JUNE - POWERSTATION
Presented in partnership with Susie Says!

MEI SEMONES (USA) - TUESDAY 16th JUNE - THE TUNING FORK

KELLY MORAN (USA) - WEDNESDAY 17th JUNE - KAHUI ST DAVIDS

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE (JP) - FRIDAY 19th JUNE - DOUBLE WHAMMY

STEREOLAB (UK/FR) - THURSDAY 25th JUNE - POWERSTATION

THE VEILS ‘FRAGILE WORLD’ ALBUM RELEASE - SATURDAY 27th JUNE - POWERSTATION

& MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!

Tickets from www.banishedmusic.com

Now that Banished Music and Strange News have pulled down the shades on an epic Strange Universe Autumn, it’s time to drop the first new addition to the already mind-meltingly great line-up for Strange Universe: Winter. Hold onto your skulls, because on Saturday 6 June at the Powerstation, we’re getting deep, dank, and psychedelic with The Black Angels playing their formidable debut album Passover in full to celebrate its 20th anniversary, alongside a healthy swathe of fan favourites.

“The Black Angels encourage you to rethink your preconceived notions, question authority and create other methods for survival. They also know how to throw a pretty awesome party.”
- RevoltOfTheApes

With The Black Angels joining an already wild line-up that is set to take over Tāmaki Makaurau across all of June and a tiny little bit of the end of May, Strange Universe: Winter also features the most welcome return of retrofuturist pop heroes Stereolab, Welsh chanteuse and producer extraordinaire Cate Le Bon, and the Fragile World album release show from brooding babes The Veils, all taking the stage at the mighty Powerstation. Hollywood Avondale plays host to droll indie darlings Dry Cleaning, while Double Whammy sets the scene for Japan’s psychedelic legends Acid Mothers Temple and one of the great American singer-songwriters Cass McCombs and his band. Finally, we’re adding two new venues to our list this time around, with the bilingual bossa nova of Mei Semones at the Tuning Fork, and breathtaking Warp Records favourite Kelly Moran at the exquisite Kahui St David’s.

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for Strange Universe: Winter, I’d be moving to Melbourne, bro”
- a prominent New Zealander

The combined daydream of promoter pals Banished Music and Strange News, Strange Universe is the show series banner designed to celebrate the city’s brilliant venues, and give us all a little something to look forward to.

CASS MCCOMBS - TUES 26th MAY - DOUBLE WHAMMY
Recently described by The Guardian as operating “at the highest songwriting level”, celebrated American indie favourite Cass McCombs is a true songwriter’s songwriter. A dozen or so albums in and his songs like Brighter!, Bum Bum Bum, and Absentee have become timeless earworms, with recent album Interior Live Oak seeing Pitchfork agree that this is an artist “in top form”. This one-off show by McCombs and his killer quartet at Double Whammy marks the first time the man has ever taken the stage in Aotearoa, and we’re absolutely thrilled to have him.

DRY CLEANING - WED 3rd JUNE - HOLLYWOOD AVONDALE
Presented in partnership with I Oh You & MG Live
“They’re one of a kind” said NME of London quartet Dry Cleaning, and they were bang on. The band’s recent third album Secret Love is their finest by a country mile, and was recorded in France by none other than producer (and fellow Strange Universe act!) Cate Le Bon. Building on the band’s established spoken word post-punk “thing”, the album sees vocalist Florence Shaw embracing occasional melody, and includes horns, synths, and even Wilco’s own Jeff Tweedy joining on guitar for a tune.

CATE LE BON - FRI 5th JUNE - POWERSTATION
Presented in partnership with Susie Says!
It seems unanimously agreed that Cate Le Bon is a talent for the ages. Following stints producing the likes of Wilco, Horsegirl, and (see above) Dry Cleaning, Le Bon returned with her acclaimed seventh solo album Michelangelo Dying. The album was included in all the end of year lists we’d care to name, and a recent standalone collaboration with St Vincent confirmed Cate Le Bon is still operating in the upper echelon of creativity. Her innovations in song construction and production have recently seen Cate compared to the likes of David Bowie, Laurie Anderson, Björk, and other modern luminaries of music.

THE BLACK ANGELS - SAT 6th JUNE - POWERSTATION
Here to mark the hallowed 20th anniversary of their genre-defining modern psychedelic rock classic and debut album, Passover, The Black Angels are set to bring sacred fuzz to the unholy temple of the Powerstation this June. This Texan behemoth lovingly blends the magic of The Velvet Underground with the wild minds of Syd Barrett, Roky Erickson, and Arthur Lee, all while generating a sound all their own. Not just a radical rock band, The Black Angels founded the legendary Austin psych festival Levitation, and maintain a fierce political stance within and outside of their music. It’s high time we had them back, hell yeah.

MEI SEMONES - TUES 16th JUNE - THE TUNING FORK
With a sumptuous blend of indie rock, bossa nova, jazz, and chamber pop, accomplished guitarist and songwriter Mei Semones is set to make her long-awaited Aotearoa debut at Strange Universe: Winter. Brooklyn-based Mei writes songs in both English and Japanese, celebrating a passion for life, family, music, and more, sentiments which can be heard on her sublime debut album Animaru. Described by Clash Magazine as “a potent talent”, Mei Semones is more than just one to watch, she’s one to become a devoted fan of. SputnikMusic swooned over the songs of Animaru, calling them “as gorgeous as can be, and undeniably triumphant”. Now, it’s your turn to swoon.

KELLY MORAN - WED 17th JUNE - KAHUI ST DAVID’S
New York-based composer and pianist Kelly Moran has spent her career excavating the sonic possibilities of the piano. In the past decade, Moran has released numerous acclaimed albums through the fabled label Warp Records that have challenged the piano’s traditional, classically-imposed school of thought with a more contemporary approach. An accomplished and highly sought-after composer, Moran has collaborated with visionary contemporaries including FKA Twigs, Yves Tumor, The Avalanches, Kelsey Lu, Oneohtrix Point Never, and classical musician Margaret Leng Tan. Happening in the hallowed halls of Kahui St David’s on Khyber Pass, this is one of our wildcard offerings you won’t want to miss.

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE - FRI 19th JUNE - DOUBLE WHAMMY
Formed over thirty years ago by Makoto Kawabata, Acid Mothers Temple & The Paraiso U.F.O. released their debut album in 1997. The album was instantly branded one of the year's best in The Wire magazine, and the band have been an ever-present entity in the cosmic musical realm ever since. Their recorded albums easily number in the dozens, with The Guardian’s David Bennun stating that “Acid Mothers Temple have in their two-decade existence recorded far more head-melting music than any sane person would know what to do with.” Sane people aren’t necessarily this Japanese wonder-band’s target audience, and we are starry eyed to welcome this magic mothership to our very own Strange Universe!

STEREOLAB - THURS 25th JUNE - POWERSTATION
The panic is over! Anglo-French avant-pop group Stereolab are indeed returning to Aotearoa in June, hot on the mechanical heels of last year’s brilliant albumInstant Holograms on Metal Film. This was the band’s first studio album in fifteen years, and followed their celebrated reunion in 2019. The Guardian hailed the album as “a radiant return”, and Rolling Stone fizzed over the band’s “gliding grooves, wowing-and-fluttering synthesizers, and lyrics that elegantly pine for more”. They’ve got a cult following for a very good reason, and we’re beyond astonished to have them as part of our winter line-up!

THE VEILS - SAT 27th JUNE - POWERSTATION
Following the critically acclaimed release ofAsphodelsin 2025, local heroes The Veils return with a bold and invigorated new album,Fragile World. Released June 19 on V2 Records, the album marks a striking shift in tone and energy for the band, with fearless leader Finn Andrews reflecting on his tendency to make each album as a rebellion against his last. Recorded live to tape at Roundhead by Paddy Hill, with production by Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, The Chills),Fragile Worldcaptures The Veils in an urgent and instinctive mode. With its immediacy, intensity, and emotional clarity,Fragile Worldstands as one of The Veils’ most compelling releases to date, and is the perfect note to go out on forStrange Universe: Winter.