New Music & Video Release - Award-winning T. G. Shand steps back into the spotlight with the hypnotic ‘The Deadpan Break’

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Artist Name: T. G. Shand

Release Name - The Deadpan Break

Release Date - 30th May 2025

Genre - Alternative, Indie, Shoegaze

Label - Cusp Limited, DRM NZ

Ōtautahi’s fine purveyor of shoegaze-meets-dream pop, T. G. Shand, returns with her first single of the year, ‘The Deadpan Break’.

The award-winning T. G. Shand, which is the brainchild of Annemarie Duff (formerly of the Melbourne band Miniatures) has been forging her own path in Aotearoa’s alternative scene with her signature blend of dream-pop, shoegaze and lo-fi.

‘The Deadpan Break’ is a sparse, yet warm, hypnotic tune that builds to a searing disco atmosphere. It’s about “breaking the deadpan,” says Annemarie.

‘The Deadpan Break’ sees Annemarie collaborating with a cast of top musical talent. This includes producer and mix engineer Tom Bell, who famously turned the renowned Chick’s Hotel in Port Chalmers into a recording studio. Up to this point, Annemarie has self-produced all of her T. G. Shand records, and describes the studio experience as “life changing”.

“Being able to work with a world class collaborator like Tom, give the song the best possible treatment, go down all the musical and production rabbit holes with someone who really understands the style, elevated it to a new level.”

Others who worked on ‘The Deadpan Break’ include Wellington-based Cory Champion (Electric Wire Hustle, Shocking Pinks) on drums and engineer Bevan Smith (Glass Vaults, Over the Atlantic, Skallander). The track was mastered at the Grammy Award-winning studios, The Lodge (New York) founded by Emily Lazar (David Bowie, Morrissey, Angel Olsen).

Helping to elevate the vibe and message of ‘The Deadpan Break’ is an equally atmospheric and hypnotic, layered abstract animation created by Spencer Hall, with input from Magda Wojciechowska and Riley Cooper.

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