“Aurere” Reviewed by Nick Bollinger, Radio New Zealand

“Aurere……..it’s like finding a new voice. These may be the first songs of her own that Smith has recorded, but they have a sophistication that comes from years of playing. In [‘I am Joe’s heart’], with it’s Joni Mitchell-ish piano chords, she hangs a melody that perfectly matches the song’s mood of anger and hurt. But the songs cover a varied emotional terrain: from pain and angst, to something approaching a state of bliss [‘Aurere’]. These are hardly three chord pop songs, but they do have verses, choruses and hooks that reach out and grab you. Though [Smith’s] songs would be easily strong enough to carry the album on their own, the 2 covers might be seen as an acknowledgment of influences. One being Ross Mullins’ who set a kind of template for sophisticated songs with an unmistakable sense of place. She’s far better than any of the ‘new Norahs’ out there. Her melodies go places you don’t expect and the emotions run to depths most bed-sit songwriters never reach. ‘Aurere’ means to express passion and that’s exactly what she does.” Nick Bollinger – Radio New Zealand “The Sampler”, Saturday March 26th, 2005