Catchy, soulful, infused with summer. Auckland-based songstress Abbie’s debut is a total treat for the ears. Opener The Million sets the tone balancing her naturally rich vocals with top-notch production values. The track is very 2016 in its instrumentation and sounds just as appropriate for local radio here in Aotearoa as providing the soundtrack to a peppy international show or ad campaign. It’s easy to envision the song played live, with a chorus ready made for crowd sing along. Give It Back is a more subdued and sad track, emotionally echoed in Ships. These two are spaced between the EP’s other more upbeat songs, ensuring a balanced listening experience – also ensuring that listeners are treated to the full spectrum of Abbie Harker-Ferguson’s incredible voice. William Henderson produced at Woodcut Studios for newcomer label Waatea Music. Special mention must go to te reo Māori track Rerehua which features Maaka. Tonally in line with the rest of this seven-track album’s sound, Rerehua is a particularly beautiful and daring song in a commercial music environment that often doesn’t play well with Māori language offerings. If Abbie is part of the vanguard aiming to update this space, perhaps change can finally be afoot.