If we could SEE songs they would be luminous trails in the breath of space. And from there, they drift down to us and we absorb them. We respond emotionally to each one we hear. That might be in the subconscious, that might be in our present mindfulness. The ones we can sense are like guardians - but they are all real. Some of them we lodge in our hearts, where they reside till our last day. Those special ones serve a perfect purpose; always at hand to come into our conscious world to lift us out of the dark.

Young New Zealanders find in songs the means of expression that is like no other. Their words speak to us of love, regret, joy, loss, celebration, despair, pathos, reward, rejection, perfection. You get it. And those words merged with the music they bring from empty space bring songs into our sphere for us to savour and delight in. But it’s bigger than that.

Songs written by young New Zealanders forge a communal strand, a national voice, a summation of who they are and with that, it’s clear that they are telling us who we are. Listening to the hundreds of songs that we receive at Play It Strange is like opening a window into the hearts and minds of our youth. And there is much to learn.