Coromandel-raised Nur Peach Lajunen-Tal plays piano and guitar, with her singer-songwriter roots firmly in the folk idiom, yet the 10 tracks on her debut album ‘Syncopate’ enjoy a diversity of percussive and synth-based musical beds that place the album unexpectedly and confidently into filmic electro-pop territory. Written while studying for a Bachelor of Music degree at Auckland University, Nur says much of ‘Syncopate’ was composed while walking the city streets, which helps to explain the mostly upbeat energy, along with the exploratory nature of her lyrics. She talked with Richard Thorne about the album, released under the artist name Nur Peach.

Let’s start with the album title ‘Syncopate’. It isn’t the name of one of the tracks so why was it chosen for the album?

The title comes from a line in track two, Offbeat. “Don’t just stick to those straight lines/ Syncopate your life.” Syncopation is the technical music theory term for accenting the offbeats, but here I’m using it as a metaphor for daring to be different and to make a difference.

The idea for the song came when I was in songwriting class at uni. My teacher was talking about our latest assignment, which was to write a song with a catchy melodic vocal hook. He was giving pointers on how to achieve that, and one of his suggestions was using syncopation. “It helps to be a little offbeat,” he said, and the chorus of Offbeat literally just flew into my head! I wrote most of the song on the way home that day, using what he had said about syncopation making melodies memorable as a metaphor for how it’s those who dare to step outside the norm who change the world. 

It’s important to me that an album title encapsulates the essence of the project. In this case, Offbeat wasn’t the only song which dealt with difference and change – those themes are all through the album. ‘Offbeat’ as the album title would’ve communicated the same message, but… I just absolutely love album titles which are taken from lyrics but aren’t actually a song title. I also just thought ‘Syncopate’ made a really striking title that was a bit more distinctive. To me, there was never any question of the album being called anything else. In fact, I had the title before I’d even finished songwriting for it!

The album press describes it being a diary of your first year at university. How do you sum up that transformative year of life in retrospect?

The album itself sums it up better than I ever could, but simply put it was amazing! I did a Bachelor of Music at the University of Auckland, specialising in Popular Music. After growing up surrounded by nature in the Coromandel Peninsula it was my first time living in a city, as well as my first time living on my own. I was in a Hall of Residence right in the city centre. It was intense and overwhelming and lonely at times, but also very exciting and empowering.

That year was a rollercoaster ride. No doubt about it, deciding to go to uni was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done, but it was worth it. I learnt so much about myself that year and had so many experiences that I otherwise wouldn’t have got to have. That year was also the only full year I had on campus due to lockdowns starting in the second year, which makes my first year even more special in my memory. It made it even more important to me that I immortalise that time with the release of ‘Syncopate’,’ which was entirely written within that year. It was my declaration to the world that, regardless of what happened after, I still had that one amazing year and nothing can take that away from me.

No doubt you wrote more songs than those included – what were the main themes that came through and was covering them off a basis for selection?

I definitely wrote more songs than included! I was basically writing non-stop, it became my way of processing things. Mostly I wrote about my experience. Looking back on my writing from back then, a lot of it was very high energy and there was a kind of breathless excitement to it that definitely came from having just moved to the city. One of the main themes on the album – and my writing back then overall – was taking positive risks, and I think that’s because of the huge risk I was taking by being there at all. However, there was also a lot of loneliness that came through in my writing. I wrote a lot about struggling to fit in, and missing nature and my family. There’s also a lot about overcoming obstacles, self-discovery and what it means to be true to yourself.

The selection process was highly intuitive and more based on the quality of the songs than anything else. I wasn’t intentionally trying to cover themes – in fact I only noticed the themes in retrospect. It can be hard to see that kind of thing while you’re living it. But as I was writing, there were certain songs that would stand out above the others and beg to be included. The tracklist changed a few times, but there were songs that never truly fit, songs which were there from the very beginning, and songs which insisted to be included against all reason. What I ended up with was that year of my life distilled. It of course isn’t a complete picture, but in a way, it’s a truer and purer picture than it would be if it was complete.

The album notes also mention ‘the struggles that come with being a little different’ – can you elaborate on that statement? 

What it means to be a little different is one of the central themes of the album – not just the struggles, but the positive aspects of it as well. This is a very personal issue to me because all my life, people have viewed me as ‘different’. I’ve always struggled with fitting in and with friendships. Being different can be incredibly lonely, and I think you can really hear that loneliness on the album, especially on songs such as Rainfall and Lovers and Leavers. 

When you’re not like everyone else you get met with a lot of judgement and it can be harder to relate to others. That was definitely my experience. Lately I’ve been noticing a lot of themes about impermanence on ‘Syncopate.’ Specifically, the impermanence of the systems where you don’t fit. People and places who don’t accept you won’t be in your life forever, which makes it even more important to stay true to who you really are… because that’s eternal.

Entering university can often be about ‘finding your tribe’. Was that your experience?

After a childhood of not fitting in I was desperate for this to be my experience at uni. It was a new start in a new place with an entirely new group of people, and I was determined that this time, I would make it work. So determined that it took me the whole three years to fully come to terms with the reality, which was more along the lines of the song Rainfall. I wrote this song about feeling left out in my class at uni, and people who I thought were friends not acting very friendly.

Halls was a similar story – I would often feel really lonely on the weekends there. Lovers and Leavers, which is the last track was born out of one of those lonely weekends. As I was writing it grew into something larger than just that weekend, or even just that year. It became about looking back on my whole life and all the people I’ve crossed paths with. About accepting that people will come and go from my life and making a commitment to keeping my heart open and loving fully and authentically.

Hearts Wide Open is just one track that sounds like it was written as a film theme music, a Disney tune maybe. Were some written as course work to that sort of template?

It’s interesting that you mention Hearts Wide Open, because that’s the only song on the album that I’m still not entirely sure who or what it’s about! The words just came to me one day and it felt very fantastical and mysterious. It certainly wasn’t inspired by any real event or personal experience! I can see why it would sound like it’s about the experience of finding your tribe, and I’ve been asked before if it was about that. Perhaps it was more about the experience I wanted to have, but it wasn’t very close to reality.

I’ve had people tell me before that my songs would work well in a soundtrack, but I don’t think I’ve ever written with that in mind. The only assignment I had along those lines was in my third year, when we had to rescore a scene from a movie of our choice. I chose a scene from Pixar Cars (one of my favourite movies), and my score was mostly instrumental but included a short original song at the end about the meaning of victory. I had a lot of fun with it!

Did your degree work reveal you have songwriting strengths you hadn’t realised already?

The one thing I was amazed to discover was my ability to write to a brief. I was a bit nervous at the idea since I didn’t think I could write a song because I was told to. I thought I had no control over when inspiration struck or even any say in how the lyrics turned out or the subject matter. Having to write to a brief showed me that I could be intentional without compromising quality or authenticity – in fact, my songs became better quality and more honest! Three of those songs – This is Home, Offbeat and Cover to Cover – even ended up on the album.

How did you hook up with Scott Seabright as producer for your album?

I first met and worked with Scott when I was 15, on a life-changing day recording in Roundhead Studio A. He was the head engineer there at the time, and I was there to record my single Feel The Sun through Play It Strange. I was really impressed by what a good job he did on that song and had it in my head ever since that I’d like to work with him again someday. Not long after my Roundhead session my father (songwriter and performing/recording artist Dylan Wade) spent a couple of days in Studio B, and Scott worked with him as well. Scott left Roundhead shortly after to go freelance, but he and my dad kept in touch and kept working on things together. When I was looking for a producer for ‘Syncopate,’ my dad offered to put in a word with Scott, and in the end it just worked.

The musical beds vary widely; synth, piano, band, percussive etc. What instruments do you mostly compose with?

I play piano and guitar, and that’s how I compose most of my songs, including most of the ones that end up with synth. I’m not always at an instrument when inspiration strikes, though. In fact, so much of ‘Syncopate’ was written while walking that when I think of or listen to the album, I get images of the city streets where I’d walk to and from class. In those cases, I would rush to an instrument the moment I got the chance. Cover to Cover was unusual because it was the first time I’d ever written to a track I’d already produced in a recording software. We had to make a track and then write on top of it for an assignment. It’s not something I’ve done often since, but it was exciting to try a new way of writing.

What did you play on the album and what did Scott add? 

This is hard to answer in a straightforward way because the process was so collaborative. I did all the acoustic guitar, all the prominent piano parts, the lead vocals, most of the backing vocals, and some of the electric guitar. I had a clear idea of how I wanted each song to sound, but since I didn’t have much experience with audio production I knew I needed help to get it to the place I wanted. Scott added a whole lot of ambient electric guitar and programmed stuff to fill out the sound. He was a great help for finding the kinds of synth sounds and effects I wanted and just creating the kind of big, full sound I couldn’t have achieved on my own. There were instances where I would hear a part and sing it to him, and also parts he came up with himself. The drums especially were almost entirely his department, because inventing drum beats isn’t my forte.

The recording was done at Scott’s home studio in Pokeno, which at the time was a little room in his house. Although most of what you’ll hear on the album is the two of us, there are a few other musicians involved. My father, Dylan Wade Lajunen, plays lead guitar on Gift From Above and Happy Songs. Anna Rugis, Jeremy Hantler and Seonaid Espiner are the choir of voices on Hearts Wide Open.

North Star includes the lyric, ‘I’m not afraid anymore.’ You’ve been writing and releasing music since your early teens  – what’s the hardest part of the artistic process for you?

I released my first EP when I was 13, but I’ve actually been writing music about as long as I can remember. I wrote my first proper song when I was five, but I was constantly making things up even before then. For me, the hard part isn’t the songwriting itself, but everything involved with getting the songs out into the world. Songwriting comes naturally to me, but all the organisational stuff around recording, releasing and marketing doesn’t and is something I really have to work at. 

Leading up to the release of ‘Syncopate’ I also discovered how hard releasing music is on an emotional level. I’d never put something this deeply personal out into the world before, and I experienced a lot of unprecedented fear leading up to the release. It’s interesting that you mentioned that line from North Star too, because the day before the release I managed to let go of my fear, so on release day I wasn’t afraid anymore. The way I let go of my fear was, of course, by writing a song about it. That’s how I deal with everything…

How do you summarise the message of ‘Syncopate’ – who is it aimed at?

It’s aimed at everyone, really, but I’m especially hoping it will connect with people who are different. I wanted to provide a voice for our experiences, to show others going through similar things that they’re not alone and that it’s okay to be you. The message is about the importance of taking positive risks, being true to who you are and standing up for what you believe in. These things aren’t easy in the world we live in, which pressures us to conform, but they’re how we find happiness and fulfillment. And how we change the world…