Otaki-born Ari Leason brings a unique tenderness and soul to her folk music, shaped by a rich and extraordinary upbringing. The emerging artist poetically strings together stories and witnessings from far beyond her years into understated acoustic melodies, sharing 16 new and individual tracks in her outstanding debut album, ‘Hello Darling’.

The 20-year-old, now Wellington-based singer-songwriter recounts her earliest memories as being full and vibrant. Ari’s childhood was far from ordinary, and she attributes much of who she is today to her experiences in rural Otaki. Raised alongside seven siblings, the family farm was a home of music, political activism, and refuge for those in need. She recalls an early life abundant in folk music, naming Bob Dylan and Joan Baez as influences who shaped the music she creates.

Her lyrics reflect her devotion to the complex events and dynamics she witnessed as a young adult, particularly through the experiences of several members of the community she has come to embrace.

“Over the years, my dad and my brothers started building little houses on the farm and people started moving in, who were either homeless before they lived there, or just really struggling in a lot of different ways, financially or usually with addiction.”

Homeschooled from the ages of 5 to 8, Ari then attended ​​Te Kura-a-Iwi O Whakatupuranga Rua Mano.

“I didn’t know any te reo Māori before I went there, I’m not Māori myself – I think actually I was the first Pakeha kid to go. The school just sort of adopted me into their whanau, and that was an incredible experience. I feel very honoured to have had that.”

Later transitioning to Kapiti College, enticed by a revamped music department, she subsequently moved to Wellington, where her brother had started a community house along the same kaupapa. Ari holds a thoughtful, mature demeanour, with an awareness beyond her years, using many of those experiences to fuel the music she creates.

Following a 2023 debut EP titled ‘Pile of Dust’, when we talk in mid-2025 she is in the final stages of completing her debut album, yet says that for most of her songwriting journey she never expected to write music for public release.

“A lot of the time when I was writing this music, it wasn’t with an album in mind. It has always been my main way of processing really, it’s very therapeutic for me.”

Much of her music reflects that therapeutic quality in its body, well-illustrated within the musically diverse album.
“I remember when I first realised how powerful storytelling is, and how I can create that. I can share these stories with people, and move people. That is such a gift,” she observes.

Scheduled for release in July, ‘Hello Darling’ is a vulnerable and frank body of handpicked songs written over the past 16 years – perhaps explaining the 16 tracks included. Ari’s sound is self-classified as folk, with a taste for early country.

“I touch on loss and grief, and mental health, addiction. Some of the songs are stories of people who I grew up with on the farm, and other songs are my own experiences.”

She has a uniquely smokey vocal timbre with an edge that allows her lyrics to effortlessly float through her music. Aesthetically she’s resemblant of a young Stevie Nicks or Janis Joplin, with a unique humility born from the spirit of rural Aotearoa. There is talk of a possible tour to promote the album release. As Ari Leason shares her most vulnerable stories audiences can expect to feel a sense of comfort, emotional uplift, and truth.