Morningside

New Zealand’s post-punk lineage—marked by a Velvet Undergound bloodline, skewed melodies and rhythmic strumming—welcomes something new and significant to the family tree: Amelia Murray. On Morningside, the first full-length for her Fazerdaze project, the 24-year-old Kiwi is backed by an intuitive combo bringing hooks and crystalline guitar lines that call to mind the country’s greats (Straitjacket Fits, Verlaines), but with a more expansive vision of the potential of the pop song. “Last to Sleep”—with its drowsy-eyed reverb, heavy vocals and understated guitar lines—is the lover suspect, for the moment secure yet when the eyes close the center of the heart plunges out of sight and out of reach. “Lucky Girl” may be the album’s sweetest pop moment, the words mourning heartbreak yet to come (“Are the walls getting closer, as I’m getting closer to you?/And are we falling faster, now that we have further to fall?”). It’s hard-fought wisdom: The more we love, the more we have to lose.