PUGS REVIEWS: Mei Semones

The Tuning Fork, Auckland  

16^th June, 2026 

Strange Universe by Banished Music and Strange News returns with a new hot water bottle for your winter slumber.  Here we have Brooklyn-based Mei Semones, bringing Japanese-American jazz-influenced indie pop to Tamaki.  Though the Tuning Fork doesn’t make me scream in excitement, it was a bright green flag that Mei had toured with one of my all-time favourites, Men I Trust. 

Mei brought us aboard with familiarity, treated us to a slew of unreleased tunes and then brought us home with the ‘25 record Animaru. The indie pop flair was a golden bridge for a bonehead two-stepper like me, as I found my footing in some rhythms that felt pretty high-IQ. 

These songs were an Attenborough montage; sonically cutting between eco systems.  You’d have visions of life on a leaf, zooming out to a quiet plain before you were hurled into a crashing sea.  There was such variety that at times I truly would not know where one song ended and another began, validated by the 2-second delay before each applause. 

What was crystal clear was Mei’s dedication to her art as she uncloaked the personality in each piece. Unique individuals cut from the same cloth; every song was a stranger for which I felt a new moment of sonder.  Mei glided between Japanese and English so effortlessly you would forget what you were hearing. Her vocals were porcelain; showing such fragility whilst holding firm on every extended note. 

Mei’s delicate restraint was perfectly balanced by the stage presence of a couple of absolute weapons in the string section, Noah and Claudius. These fellas had mastered their violin and viola to the point of using them for additional percussion. Ransom on the drums made every shot feel totally deliberate no matter how bumpy the journey became, whilst Noam held steadfast on bass as the rest of the troupe fluttered around him.  

It wasn’t my usual cup of tea, but I drank it down with a huge grin. 

3.5/5 

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