Premiere: Hobart’s Tahi, armed with new members and a fresh perspective, unveil shimmering new single ‘Hive Bee’ with its jangling riffs and power pop melodies.

Fresh in a new town and already with a band behind her, recent Hobart resident and singer/guitarist/songwriter Leah Tahi Randall has unveiled her brand new version of the band Tahi along with a stunning new single ‘Hive Bee’ which we are honoured to premiere today.

‘Hive Bee’ cements Tahi as a powerful force in antipodean indie dream pop magic. We greatly admired the last single ‘Hartnett’ (see my review here) amd ‘Hive Bee’ introduces a little bit of steel in the sound with its jangling guitar riffs and crashing drums. Randall’s voice floats in the ether over the rolling ambulant sound with a touch of sixties day-glo pop with its celestial resounding choruses and bubble gum melodies. There is a swagger to this track that struts the stage with a profound maturity.

Randall says of the tune:

‘Hive Bee’ is about two people moving towards each other simultaneously, symmetrically and obliviously through nature like two bees from the same hive. I wrote the lyrics, chords and melody within a couple hours, the rapidness is an early sign of a good song. I already had the guitar riff in my head which randomly came to me previously while I was driving my car.

The single comes with a fascinating homegrown AI video created by Liam Skeates-Udy and edited by Randall herself – a swirling fantasy with psychedelic elements that moves and transforms with the music:

‘Hive Bee’ is out tomorrow (20 July 2023) and can be streamed here.

In forming a new version of Tahi, Randall has gathered like-minded Hobart musicians with a breadth of experience around her in her new town – Ruben Nomikos, Mathew Stanton and Adrian Hayes of Nice Pie and Tarik Stoneman of Chase City. Live gigs are next on the agenda.

Tahi can slide easily into the pantheon of female fronted pure dream pop outfits that are positively blossoming in the southern hemisphere – think Fazerdaze, Hatchie, T.G. Shand and recent work from Juice Webster, The Salarymen, Allegra Neve and Emily Victoria. And that’s just scratching the surface. It’s an exciting time.