Spindle Radar: Bic Runga Reflects On Returning To The Spotlight and “starting from scratch again”

After years away from releasing music, Bic Runga steps back into the spotlight with ‘Red Sunset’. Created between Paris and New Zealand alongside her partner and collaborator Silicon, the album pulls from old ideas combined with a new perspective and a more assured lens as she blends memory with a renewed sense of clarity and development. 

Her influence has echoed onto a new generation, with Beabadoobee covering her iconic track ‘Sway’, which is a reminder of how deeply her songwriting still resonates with the new generation of indie artists. 

Ahead of her UK tour, Bic Runga reflects on what it means to reconnect with audiences across the country, the creative partnership that helped form this new chapter and the influences that continue to translate in her work. In conversation with Spindle, Bic Runga speaks about evolution, collaboration and the feeling of “starting from scratch again”. 

‘Red Sunset’ is your first album release in several years. What does releasing music mean to you at this stage in your life now? Was there a specific moment that made you realise you were ready to release music again?

It’s a different game for someone who’s been around for decades in a small country like New Zealand. It’s more about continuing because you still have something you want to say and because it’s fun. The music world is nothing like it was in the late 90s, it’s difficult to cut through, especially for new artists, but I still just love the art of producing recordings. Things got weird in the world. There’s a song on the new album called “Escape From Planet Earth,” and “Paris in the Rain” is about returning to Paris after not being there for years, and there’s this apocalyptic flooding. The mood seems a bit gloomy, but this is what music is for.

You’ve mentioned being inspired by David Bowie’s advice of “Never waste an idea.” How did you go about revisiting older material through a more mature lens? Were there specific conversations, memories or places that became anchors for this project?

I had so many discarded half-finished songs from 30 years ago that I didn’t have the skills to refine in the direction I was hoping for back then. But the germ of an idea from a past self is such an unusual and rare thing; there are ideas from when I was 21 that have a vibe I couldn’t come up with today. With time, you develop the technical ability to control the outcome of the finished song.

You and Silicon spent time in Paris creating this album. Did being away from home shift the emotional tone of the album or the way you worked together?

We had been at the coal face of family life, lying low, so it helped to get out of the house and really make the decision to complete a record. In a place as atmospheric and historic as Paris, you can add a bit more dream. The songs you think are weird and embarrassing at home somehow seem more confident when you’re not thinking about doing the laundry or mowing the lawns in New Zealand. 

On collaborating with Silicon on this project, how did you navigate blending your distinct sounds together, with your indie pop style and Kody’s background in contemporary alternative music? What was the production process like?

Kody has his project, the Silicon project, which he too has many hard drives of recordings of, but his focus for the last ten years has been with his brothers band UMO. When we decided to make my record together, so many other flavours were already swimming around, and I suppose you just use what’s in front of you. For this recording process, I was just guided by my boredom with myself; if I felt like I was in a boring comfort zone, we would change tack. You have to make music that excites you; otherwise, no one else is going to be excited about it. I didn’t want to repeat work I’d already done because if you want to listen to Sway from 1997, that already exists. 

Beabadoobee covered your hit song ‘Sway’. How does it feel to see your earlier music echoing forward like that, influencing the new generation of artists who are shaping the indie scene now?

I love Beabadoobee singing Sway so much. It’s beyond wonderful and surprising to me how Sway can still resonate. There is also a version by R3HAB featuring Amy Shark that came out in 2022. I’m so fascinated and grateful how a song can live a life of its own without you.

You’ve mentioned looking up to Cher, particularly her ‘straight-talking, no-bullshit’ attitude and the way she embraces getting older. How does this impact your view on moving through different stages in your life?

Cher is the greatest symbol of longevity, reinvention and breaking down of boringness and norms. Her “Mom, I am a rich man” quote cracks me up no end. We are lucky to walk the same earth in the lifetime of Cher; she really brought the glamour. 

You’re heading out to the UK on tour alongside Silicon. What are you most excited to bring into a live setting that people won’t get from streaming?

I don’t think people are getting a very fulsome musical experience from streaming whatsoever. I can’t even navigate it to play me one artist or one album in a coherent way. I’m so glad vinyl and CD and live music are still of value; it takes a lot more buy-in, time and commitment to engage with new music in this way. I find my concentration span is so messed up, but a full album or a movie still demands that you chill out and concentrate. Live music is like this too, but with a proper social element to it. 

It’s been over a decade since you last visited the UK. Is there a particular city or venue on this tour that you’re especially excited to return to or experience for the first time?

We’re playing pretty small venues like the Garage in London, and I kind of prefer this standing room club-type tour. We just finished a theatre tour for the new album in NZ and Australia, that’s fun too, but it’s more reserved. I’m so excited to be playing in the UK again. It’s been ages, and I love the feeling of starting from scratch again. 

If this album and UK tour represent a new chapter, what do you hope people will understand about you by the end of it?

If you were a fan before, the old songs will feel really familiar, like hanging out with an old friend. But I’m mostly just happy to have finally made new music again, it felt like it was never going to happen. I feel lucky to be here. 

Check out Bic Runga’s latest record Red Sunset here or below.