Review By Darren McIntyre
Fazerdaze aka Amelia Rahaya Murray is a singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist from Wellington, New Zealand who blends dreamy pop elements with grungy shoegaze influences. Fazerdaze came to our attention in 2014 when she released her self-titled EP to the world, 2017 saw the release of her first full-length album Morningside which brought her monumental success leading her to take a 5 year hiatus brought on by burnout and an unhealthy relationship.
Fast forward to 2022 and dropping in our laps was EP Break which brings us elements of dance, pop & electronica, Amelia brings us her new single Bigger and follows that with some live semi-acoustic shows in the UK and tonight, she stops off in Glasgow @ King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut to deliver her brand of infectious tones that let her really express herself. @ 9.45 precisely Fazerdaze walks onstage to rapturous applause from this swelling crowd that has come to hear smooth vocals with epic guitar licks.
Amelia quietly thanks us for coming out tonight and tells us that she loves Glasgow as it’s fresh, vibrant and has lots to offer but it’s so damn cold, the audience chuckles and shouts back it’s always cold in Scotland as she laughs as she sets up her stall tonight and gets us ready for the journey ahead.
“Break” opens the show as Amelia strums furiously on her guitar as her stunning soulful vocals fill the room and let the crowd feel the emotion oozing from her soulful grooves. The show is a little different as she is going solo tonight and it’s just her and her 2 guitars to entertain us, she flows effortlessly through the track with precision as she gives us cool lyrics that just flow easily and let the crowd get into the power pop elements of this exciting musician.
“Tired Of Waiting” is a gritty guitar intro-based track that just takes us on the journey as Fazerdaze warms up with her cool deep thought-provoking lyrics that just resonate with this audience. The track is a short piece but is filled with grungy guitar elements that work perfectly with the composition as the soulful vocals flow effortlessly through the venue and let us go on the journey with this sweet shy musician.
“Reel” is a sweet cool acoustic-driven track that is working well with the sampler track intro that really allows her to express herself and let us go along for the ride. The cool piece is a toe-tapping melodic arrangement that showcases Amelia’s incredible range to let us witness something special here tonight, we are really getting into the punchy tones that are wrapped in well-written lyrics that have a cool guitar riff to take it onwards.
“Little Uneasy” We switch to electric guitar for this haunting melodic number as Fazerdaze brings her fantastic tones to King Tut’s tonight as we watch motionless as she drives onwards with ease. The track is a little melancholy which adds to the depth of the track for sure as we watch and just feel the energy oozing from the stage as she lays bare her soul in these haunting lyrics that just pull you in and let you feel the depth take you.
We are treated to Amelia’s most recent track in the form of “Bigger” as she readies herself and opens with a sweet deep guitar pick that is wrapped in these haunting vocals that work well with the sampler tones. The punchy groove is a real heart-tugging tone that just delivers deep into your soul and then some, the crowd are cheering loudly as she just carries on and lets the music gives us a real shot in the arm as the punchy tones make themselves known to us tonight.
Amelia chats with us and tells us she has a new flatmate who is awesome and is a friend of one of the crowd tonight which brings a huge cheer from this swelling Glasgow crowd. The gig is just bubbling under the surface as we power through “Bedroom Talks”, “Jennifer”, and “City Glitter”, these tracks are real crowd-pleasers as we are feeling the emotion pouring from this incredible artist tonight as she tells us it’s such a pleasure to be here and if she could live anywhere it would be Glasgow as it’s such a friendly, warm environment and again this brings a huge cheer.
The tracks are coming thick and fast and lead into “Overthink it” which has soulful tones as the sampler groove booms at us from the stage as Amelia’s sweet melodic vocals really wrap themselves around this punchy toe-tapping piece that is just awesome. The Night is a real mix of up-tempo melodic tracks that mix well with the thought-provoking songs that are littered throughout the set tonight.
“Flood Into” comes at us with cool quirky guitar licks that work well with the intro sampler beats that let the soulful haunting vocals make themselves known to us. This is a nice piece that builds into a full-on groove piece that blends epic vocals with sweet guitar tones that are brought together with a nice little sampler groove that shows the diverse range that Fazerdaze brings to her gig.
We flow nicely into “Winter””Sleeper” & “Shoulders” which have given us such a diverse evening’s worth of classy soulful licks mixed with sampler grooves that are finished with incredibly soft, soulful melodic vocals that bring depth and attitude to tonight’s gig. I can tell you that this is my first time seeing this young lady and it won’t be my last as I really enjoyed the journey that I was taken on. The songs flowed well and sometimes intermingled with each other which is just awesome.
The night is fast coming to an end as she tells us she has two tracks left and thanks us for coming out and spending our hard-earned cash on a Wednesday Night.
The electric guitar is tuned and raring to go as we kick off with a deep meaty guitar lick that welcomes the sampler tones to kick off this deep emotion-filled arrangement, the fantastic vocals just wrap themselves around this sweet mellow piece as we feel the softness wash over us as Amelia lets her vocals do the talking tonight as we approach the last track of the evening.
“Lucky Girl” The tempo is a fast-paced intro that brings punchy tones and sweet cool guitar licks that are running with echo chamber vocals that give this track a really funky feeling. The haunting vocals are working well with this grungy feeling track as the whole place is clapping along and really not wanting her to leave tonight as it has been a really cool experience, till next time
Fazerdaze( aka Amelia Rahaya Murray) –
Fazerdaze – Vocals/guitars / Samples
Setlist –
Break
Tired Of Waiting
Reel
Little Uneasy
Bigger
Bedroom Talks
Jennifer
City Glitter
Overthink It
Flood Into
Winter
Sleeper
Shoulders
Somethink
Lucky Girl
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