ERNY BELLE SHARES CHRISTMAS SINGLE: MERI KIRIHIMETE

Erny Belle returns before the end of the year for the release of a very special Christmas song, ‘Meri Kirihimete’. Equal parts elegant and tongue-in-cheek, Erny Belle welcomes us to her world of an Aotearoa Christmas.

"It has only been in recent years that I have come to embrace Christmas as a ritualistic celebration of love, having spent much of my teenage hood with a repulsed attitude towards its capitalistic, consumerist and religious ploys. I have come to adore the tacky aesthetics and festivities in a childlike way. I wanted to make a Maori-ana Christmas song, quite purely for the entertainment and humour I find in this niche ritual. I believe in love". — Erny Belle

You could say that Christmas has come early this year — with the inimitable alt-folk artist also gifting us an accompanying music video for 'Meri Kirihimete', directed and produced by Erny Belle herself.

Produced & Directed by • Erny Belle

Director Of Photography & Lighting • Chris Maujer
Edit • Erny Belle & Matt Hunter
Grade • Matt Hunter
Art Department • Lucy Lever & Sam Gatara
Costume & Make up • Erny Belle

Starring • Lily Belle, Sam Gatara, Lucia Diamantis, Mackenzie Hollebon and Beanie

WATCH /LISTEN TO 'MERI KIRIHIMETE' HERE

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Close your eyes and picture that I'm there
I'll be home to share a meal, my dear (a meal)
It's been a hell of a year
And I've barely seen ya
But it won't be long
Deck the halls, we'll sing our favourite song

Bum ba dum bum ba da dum bum
Ba dum bum ba da dum bum
Ba dum bum ba da dum bum

Hang your boots, it's time to settle down
The northern stars are shining bright tonight
I'll be waiting for you by the shore
Sea bird, do you feel the love this Christmas?

And we'll drink
Champagne
Holiday
Yes, it's Christmas
Meri Kirihimete

Champagne
Holiday
Yes, it's Christmas
Meri Kirihimete

Bum ba dum bum ba da dum bum
Ba dum bum ba da dum bum
Ba dum bum ba da dum bum

Put your hands up in the air for Jesus

Bum ba dum bum ba da dum bum
Ba dum bum ba da dum bum
Ba dum bum ba da dum bum

(Feast)

And we'll drink
Champagne
Holiday
Yes, it's Christmas
Meri Kirihimete

Champagne
Holiday
Yes, it's Christmas
Meri Kirihimete

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Erny Belle first took the spotlight in October of 2021, with the successful release of her debut single and video for ‘Burning Heaven’. The singer-songwriter (Aimee Renata) seemingly appeared out of nowhere, onto our shores – leather clad, red wine in hand – stoking the flames of New Zealand’s music scene.

Erny Belle made the decision to move from Auckland city to the rural township of Maungaturoto in the summer of 2019, to write and record what would become her debut album, Venus Is Home. The album is a nine song showcase of gothic storytelling – woven together beautifully, with lilting slide guitar, tremolo guitar, slow-burning melodies, and sublime, harmonised vocals.

Venus Is Home was self-produced and independently released in February 2022, following her second single ‘Hell Hole’. Since the release of her debut, Belle has received rave reviews and glowing profiles – the album being widely praised as one of Aotearoa’s standout releases of 2022.

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“We’re calling it here and now — this is an artist to
keep your eye on”. — Matthew Crawley, Viva

“These are songs that are traditional in the best sense, but the quirks are
what tip them over from ‘very good’ to ‘great’. — Tony Stamp, RNZ

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On Venus Is Home, the lyrics shift steadfastly from sweet and earnest, to dark and satirical; toying between the artist’s ruggedness and vulnerability, “Drinking on a broken heart was a bad move”, Belle confesses on ‘Sorry Not Sorry’. She has sparked heavy contemplation with the brutal opening line in ‘Nuclear Bombs’; “I’m gonna go and smoke some P and put my baby in a washing machine”, striking a finger at New Zealand’s meth crisis.

Venus Is Home captures a sound shaped by the landscape, with references that are distinct to Aotearoa. The album ends with the title track ‘Venus Is Home’, where Belle is re-centered and grounded by words of wisdom, a “glass of lukewarm cask wine”, and “a feed of watercress”, with her grandmother Venus. The arc of the album gravitates towards her connection to home.

Her first sold out album release show with a full band, proved Erny Belle’s assertion as a performer. Waltzing through the audience to sing her finale, singing bowl in hand, face veiled in black lace; channeling a performance that feels like an earnest surrender to her audience. Rarely performing since, Belle has opened for Andy Shauf and Orville Peck for their international tours, and has been hand-picked for the 2023 incarnation of St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, as well as the fifth annual Nest Fest in Hawke’s Bay.