With the rock'n'roll panache of a dive bar matador and the emotional force of a knife in the guts, Hemi Hemingway makes music that thrills, spills and breaks hearts.

The effortlessly slick New Zealand star has a connoisseur's ear for the finest parts of musical history, sweeping 60s rock, 50s sheen and 80s romanticism into the present day, refurbishing them and refashioning them into something new and fresh.

Debut lp "Strangers Again" is the sound of a starry-eyed dreamer, taking in the shock of meeting destiny head-on, and figuring out their place in the rough and tumble of life.

It brings together candle-slow burning ballads, soaring, epic highway rock and thunderous torch songs to soundtrack the sky falling in.

But it's much more than that, a thoughtful and heartfelt exploration of modern themes, of relating to a world that sometimes lifts you up, sometimes lets you down, and everything in-between.