Pōneke’s Maxine Macaulay is the force behind creative indie act Goodnight My Darling. This up and coming act is making waves across the country, and garnering some serious attention. New single Ruby is a good example of why.

We have a soft tempo number here, driven by understated acoustic guitars complemented by a somewhat funky beat. There’s an introspective air to the track, carried along effortlessly by Maxine‘s powerful yet delicately restrained soprano. She’s telling a tale of motherhood, creativity and the push-back needed to fight repression of one’s flow, and the empowerment of women in today’s society. I’ve never understood this desire to stifle women: empathic and creative, the ability to multi-task and absorb a greater level of pain than us fellas. That social rumour about men and colds is actually true too: we have a lower immunity system due to the lack of Oestrogen in us – meaning the ladies can kick a cold way quicker than us. Just archaic to view women as anything but superhuman.

Maxine says motherhood is one of the stimulating factors of the song. I hear from the EPK that she’s soon to become one. Massive congratulations! I was present for the birth of all four of my mad boys. The experiences were all singular to each other; and all of them left me with the profound belief that women are incredible with what they can do. They bring life into the world. Anyway, I digress a tad…

The chorus was inspired by Maxine seeing the fabulous New Zealand rugby legend Ruby Tui, performing her now well-known rendition of Tūtira Mai following the Black Ferns claiming the World Cup in front of a home crowd. I agree. Ruby Tui is a social and professional inspiration to not just women and girls, but the wider rainbow community and the sporting world in general. A grounded woman with a healthy attitude to go with masses of talent.

Quite like Maxine, in fact! The knob twiddling was done by Toby Lloyd at Tiny Triumph Recordings for the recording and mixing, and Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering in Berlin. A great job made of the balancing. Gorgeous echo balance in the vocal mics. Sterling job Gents – and I’m sure made all the easier by the professional delivery of the artist.

Goodnight My Darling is one to watch. She can do the up-tempo numbers, and this shows she can bring it back, and give you some pause for thought with deep lyrics suffusing a lush, laid-back composition and mastering. I enjoyed this immensely.