Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm is crooked alt-country magic.
There is no band in New Zealand quite like Menzies.
The Wellington alt-country-rock outfit, led by former magician Chris Brown, deal in a kind of crooked, heartfelt chaos that feels both intimately local and startlingly universal.
With their long-awaited debut album, Holding My Cold Hand, Even Though Yours Is Warm, they’ve delivered a coming-of-age story disguised as a ferry crossing, complete with overhead intercom announcements stitching together the North and South Islands.
The album is a masterclass in specific storytelling.
Brown’s lyrics wander through deeply Aotearoa experiences: lingering gazes at All Blacks, the sacred comfort of sausage rolls on a tray, the childhood warmth of Suzy Cato, and native bird-song threading through the mix.
Produced by James Goldsmith (Mermaidens, DARTZ) and mastered by Tūī-winner Vivek Gabriel, the record sounds raw and lived-in, crooked alt-country twang meeting rock grit.
Yet for all its local flavour, the emotional core is wildly universal: longing, tenderness, and the strange ache of holding someone’s cold hand even when theirs is warm.
Nowhere is that spirit more alive than in the music video for the single ‘’Appy.’
A carnivalesque explosion of Menzies’ legendary live energy, the video captures Brown’s magician’s instinct, but instead of misdirection, he offers total presence.
Balloons must be kept afloat or the band stops. Gloves are thrown to the crowd; strangers become partners. It’s communal, mesmerising, and deeply odd in the best way.
‘’Appy’ itself is a bittersweet jam, joy cracked open with vulnerability, and the video makes you feel like you’ve stumbled into a beautiful, broken variety show where everyone is welcome.
Menzies recall the theatrical wonder of The Front Lawn or The Mutton Birds, but they are entirely their own creature.
As Brown puts it: “As a magician I spent years learning how to distract people. This album is the complete opposite.”
With a full NZ tour kicking off in July (including Meow in Wellington and Whammy in Auckland), this is a debut that demands to be heard, and a live show that demands to be believed.
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