Princess Chelsea is probably my second favourite princess; even though Chelsea Nikkel isn’t technically royalty her stage name is certainly richer than a nickel. Princess Leia wins the princess contest though and of course I’d do anything for her, I’d search the moons of Endor, I’d even walk naked through the deserts of Tatooine.
Sorry Mario, but our princess is not in this church! In fact, Princess Chelsea is out doing her own experimental pop thing.
Princess Chelsea is from a place kind of like Endor, but she is no Ewok no matter how spacey her tunes are. This lady from Auckland knows how to make ears listen, eyes stare and heads turn dramatically for her out of this world sounds and visuals.
Princess Chelsea has just released the second single of her forthcoming second album, No Church On Sunday and girl is it a sweet piece of work. Electro pop piano chords reverberate over a hypnotising guitar playing some jagged arpeggios as Chelsea reminisces about leaving her Christian faith behind to live in one of Auckland’s rougher suburbs. Chelsea’s dark vocals repeat the lyrics, “Ain’t no church on Sunday for me”, as if she has been possessed by a realisation that what she has done was right even though it certainly wasn’t encouraged by her church going peers.
The B-side for the single, Digital Dream Girl, is a much more upbeat example of Chelsea’s unique electro-pop and features futuristic messages that are intrinsic for the current transition into a digital age. Robotic vocal effects and male female lyrical interplay suggests this song is some sort of love- story very different from the Taylor Swift kind. The Kiwi as spoken word adds a cute little humanist touch to a song that will have you practicing robotic dance moves. The digital release for No Church On Sunday is out now and the 7” single is up for pre-order at Lil’ Chief Records.
No Church On Sunday follows her first single of her sophomore record, We’re So Lost, released in the first half of 2013. It was a long time between drinks for the young Auckland lady. We’re So Lost is a quite a trippy experience of a song that is feels fresh from other alternative pop. The eccentricity of the instrumentals sounding like a wind up music box shows Princess Chelsea’s creative flare that she brings to her compositions.
Princess Chelsea is however best known for the single The Cigarette Duet, a song off her debut album Lil’ Golden Book, it features the aforementioned album’s producer Jonathan Bree accompanying Princess Chelsea on vocal duties arguing about smoking, particularly whether Chelsea should or shouldn’t smoke a cigarette. An electric organ and glockenspiel add a playful touch to a stock standard domestic between two young lovers. The Cigarette Duet has a cute as hell video clip of the two sitting in a spa bath barely moving their body other than their lips to fight over.
If you’re in Auckland come January 26 make sure to catch out Princess Chelsea at Laneway, and no fighting lovers.
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