Aseurai: Milkyway Vinyl LP

Pre-Order Item. Release Date Subject to Change.
Label: Carpark Records
Release Date: 6th June

Pastel, walking through the falling blossoms on the trees euro-jazz-dream-k-city-pop. 

Phoebe Rings shimmers into orbit with their debut LP, Aseurai, pulling from lead
singer/synthesist Crystal Choi’s Korean mother tongue to encapsulate the themes.
“Aseurai means around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away,” Choi
says. “It’s a poe\c expression. You wouldn’t say it in normal conversa\on, but I like
that.”
Following the four-piece band’s 2024 self-\tled EP, Aseurai adds disco and city-pop
influences while staying true to dream-pop roots. While Phoebe Rings was originally
a solo project of Choi’s, Aseurai marks a shis with contribu\ng songwri\ng credits
from the whole band. The four musicians cut their teeth working on other notable NZ
projects such as Princess Chelsea, Fazerdaze, Tiny Ruins, AC Freazy,, Sea Views and
Lucky Boy.
With a more ambi\ous collec\on of instruments, Choi says this album heralds the
start of true collabora\on: “I feel more precious about this LP because it includes
everyone’s gems.” Guitar/synthesist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent spearheads
unexpected arrangements, with bold fuzzy guitar textures, to spice up the mix.
Benjamin Locke adds maturity to the lyrics, paired with perfec\onist bass lines. And
drummer Alex Freer’s slick produc\on soars Aseurai to diverse and synerge\c
heights. The broth is richer with more cooks in the kitchen, and the brewing of
textures creates a dis\nct ‘Phoebe Rings’ sound.
If the EP was spacey, then Aseurai secles on earth, rooted in tangible moments.
“Without geung too gloomy, it’s a weird world out there. A lot has changed in the
world since the EP came out,” says Kavanagh-Vincent on this transforma\on. The
album delves into hope and longing across all possibili\es, and this explora\on of
holding on and leung go is organically threaded throughout. Across ten songs,
Phoebe Ring’s storytelling ranges from tongue-in-cheek musings on gentrifica\on to
tender autobiographical memories.
아스라이 흩어지는 하늘의 별이 (May the falling light of faraway stars) / 그대의 손
끝에 닿아 숨이 돼주길 (Reach your finger\ps and let you breathe),” Choi sings in the
\tle track “Aseurai.” Imagined as a breezy track inspired by a 90’s Korean pop band,
Choi discovered, when fleshing out the lyrics, that it was about yearning for people
she couldn’t see anymore. In the old-school disco track, “Get Up,” Locke addresses
struggles with mental health in a Matrix-inspired driven mantra: ‘Just get up / Just
get up.’ The groove persists with ‘Fading Star,” a quirky ballad filled with steely
jazz/rock guitar solos dedicated to a suburban aging musician. Kavanagh-Vincent’s
lead single ‘Drising’ is an unrequited celes\al love song with bouncing bass and
playful synths.
The band wrote, produced, and engineered the album across studios and band
members’ homes in 2023/2024 in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland). It features
mixing/mix produc\on by local legend Jeremy Toy (Bic Runga, Aaradnha, Princess
Chelsea) and mastering by Kelly Hibbert. With Aseurai, Phoebe Rings mark out a
brilliant new constella\on in their sky, bringing their individual composi\ons to the
fore whilst seamlessly threading them into one celes\al body - launching skyward on
Carpark Records in June 2025.