New Zealand’s Ringlets have announced the release of their second album, endearingly entitled ‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ for 27 June 2025, and unveiled the first delicious taster, the single ‘Heavenly Wheel’. Ringlets so epitomise the classic Dunedin sound it is kind of fitting they are on the legendary Flying Nun and Leather Jackets Records label: intelligent wry pop at its very best.
‘Heavenly Wheel’ is infused with an antipodean freshness and sparkle – a dappling chiming guitar and a certain dispassionate delivery laden with melodies and scaling choruses. There are certainly genetic threads tied to The Bats, The Chills and The Clean, but also stretching across the ditch to early The Go-Betweens and The Apartments, with a British C86/Postcards tinge too. The resultant sound however is all their own: a delicious melange of thunder and expression, hints of feedback and harmonics with a certain insouciance and attitude.
Vocalist Leith Towers says of the track:
The song is about in-escapism—being trapped in the bed you’ve made for yourself. The video captures this concept through vignettes of endless and pointless tasks, ultimately suggesting that it’s not so bad when you’re in said bed together.
The video is a spectacular monochrome cinematic piece directed and produced by Joe Curtis and infused with a certain wry sense of humour:
This is a splendid release filled to the brim with a laconic vitality. It is available to download and stream here and through the link below.
‘The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)’ is the band’s follow-up to their distinct eponymous debut in 2023. You can pre-order below.
The album was produced by Ringlets – Arabella Poulsen (bass & vocals), Arlo Grey (drums), László Reynolds (guitar & vocals) and Leith Towers (lead-vocalist) – in Auckland at The Lab, alongside Michael Logie (The Mint Chicks) and mixed by Isaac Keating at Abbey Road Studios.
Feature Photograph: Léa Taillefer
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